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WHY.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


Copyright,  1898,  by  Douglas  Volk.    From  a  Copley  Print.    Copyright,  1899,  by  Curti.  &  Cameron. 
PATIENCE. 


PATIENCE 


A   DAUGHTER   OF  THE  MAYFLOWER 


BY 

ELIZABETH  W.   CHAMPNEY 

AUTHOR  OF   "WITCH  WETNIE,"    "WITCH 
MYSTERY,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,  MEAD  AND   COMPANY 

1899 


COPYRIGHT,  1899, 

BT 
DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY. 


THE  MEK9HON  COMPANT  PRESS, 
nAHWAY,   N.  J. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION, vii 

I.    SHERWOOD  FOREST,         .        .        .        .        .        .  1 

II.    THE  FIGURES  IN  THE  BACKGROUND,        ...  24 

III.  PATIENCE, 45 

IV.  THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE, 73 

V.    PLOTS  AND  COUNTERPLOTS, 108 

VI.    THE    GUNPOWDER    PLOT   AND   CERTAIN   OTHER 

MATTERS,       .                128 

VII.    MASKING  AND  UNMASKING, 147 

VIII.    THE  ROSARY  OF  BLOOD  AND  TEARS,      .        .        .  167 

IX.    PILGRIMS  AND  STRANGERS,      .                        .  185 

X.    A  RIFT  IN  THE  CLOUDS, 211 

XI.  MIGRATURUS  HABITA. 283 

XII.  THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  OCEAN,     ....  247 

XIII.  CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER,"        .                .  264 

XIV.  THE  END  OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE,    ....  295 
APPENDIX, .  333 


2128879 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  reader  of  any  historical  romance  has  the 
right  to  ask,  in  the  words  of  Browning : 

"  Do  you  tell  the  story  now  in  off -hand  style 
Straight  from  the  book? 

Or  is  there  book  at  all, 

And  don't  you  deal  in  poetry,  make-believe, 
And  the  white  lies  it  sounds  like  ? " 

Sir  Walter  Scott  may  plead :  "  A  poor  fel- 
low like  myself  looks  out  for  some  subject  in 
the  boundless  field  of  history — bedizens  it  with 
such  coloring  as  his  skill  suggests,  ornaments 
it  with  such  romantic  circumstances  as  may 
heighten  the  general  effect,  and  thinks  perhaps 
he  has  done  some  service  to  the  public  if  he  can 
present  to  them  a  lively  fictitious  picture  for 
which  the  original  anecdote  only  furnished  a 
slight  sketch." 

But  it  is  an  unworthy  thing  for  a  writer  to 
tangle  the  ideas  of  young  people  in  regard  to 
what  actually  happened  ;  and  the  author  wishes 
to  confess  at  the  outset  that  the  adventures  of 


vili  INTRODUCTION. 

Patience  and  of  Wrestling  were  only  such  as 
might  have  taken  place. 

The  adventures  of  Love  after  he  sailed  away 
in  search  of  Wrestling  have  nothing  to  do  with 
this  story,  but  may  be  related  in  another 
volume.  Philippa  Fawkes  is  a  fictitious  char- 
acter, and  the  end  of  Father  Greenway  is  not 
known,  but  many  a  Jesuit  missionary  suffered 
martyrdom  as  unflinchingly. 

Life  and  events  in  England  just  before  the 
emigration  have  been  dwelt  upon  at  length  in 
order  to  show  just  what  were  the  causes  which 
led  to  the  Pilgrim  movement.  It  has  been  too 
much  insisted  that  the  early  settlers  of  New 
England  were  ignorant  and  poverty-stricken 
fanatics ;  and  it  has  been  the  author's  aim  to 
show  that  while  the  majority  of  the  "  Children 
of  the  Mayflower  "  were  simple  artisans,  their 
leaders  were  men  who  had  enjoyed  the  highest 
privileges.  Of  some  it  could  be  said,  as  of 
Miles  Standish : 

"  He  was  a  gentleman  born,  could  trace  his  pedigree  plainly 
Back  to  Hugh  Standish  of  Duxbury  Hall,  in  Lancashire, 

England, 
Who  was  the  son  of  Ralph,  and  the  grandson  of  Thurston 

de  Standish ; 
Still  bore  the  family  arms,  and  had  for  his  crest  a  cock 

argent 
Combed  and  wattled  gules,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  blazon." 


INTRODUCTION.  ix 

Their  leader,  Elder  Brewster,  had  had  an 
exceptional  training  in  statesmanship,  added  to 
a  university  education ;  while  the  second  emi- 
gration, which  followed  the  Pilgrims  so  closely, 
and  almost  immediately  blended  with  them, 
was  fitted  out  and  organized  by  Theophilus 
Clinton,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  and  by  Captain 
Thomas  Dudley :  the  first  a  peer  of  England ; 
and  the  second  noble  of  nature,  and  possibly 
also  of  descent.  Of  this  second  movement  the 
author  of  "  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  New  Eng- 
land "  writes : 

"  The  men  who  made  it  were  not  a  mere 
band  of  traders  bent  simply  on  money-making. 
Some  of  them  came  from  stately  homes,  and 
were  possessed  of  wealth  and  social  position, 
while  others  had  occupied  influential  positions 
as  ministers  of  the  Church.  Before  the  move- 
ment had  spent  itself,  something  like  ninety 
university  men,  three-fourths  of  them  from 
Cambridge,  had  emigrated  to  New  England. 
It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  importance 
of  this  fact  in  its  bearing  on  the  future  of 
American  life." 

These  refined  men  and  women  endured  un- 
complainingly the  hardships  of  the  wilderness. 
Some,  like  Lady  Arabella  Johnson,  died 
heroically,  uncanonized  saints  and  martyrs. 


x  INTRODUCTION. 

Anne  Dudley  Bradstreet  was  brought  up  in 
Tattersliall  Castle  ;  and  her  husband,  the  tutor 
at  Emmanuel  College  of  Lord  Rich,  took  her  at 
her  marriage  to  the  estates  of  the  Earl  of 
Warwick,  where  he  was  intendant,  as  her  father 
had  been  for  the  Earl  of  Lincoln.  But  with 
memories  of  the  grandest  castles  of  England  in 
her  mind,  she  could  still  sing  meekly  after  a  life 
of  hardship  in  New  England : 

"What  did  I  ask  for  but  Thou  gav'st? 

What  could  I  more  require? 
But  thankfulness,  e'en  all  my  days, 
I  humbly  this  desire."* 

But  while  the  early  colonists  of  New  Eng- 
land were  not  base-born  boors,  their  chief  glory, 
and  the  distinction  which  we  must  never  lose 
sight  of  in  estimating  their  claims  to  our 
reverence,  was  their  devotion  to  liberty.  It 
was  for  this  that  they  renounced  ease  and 
safety ;  and  this  great  heritage  we  have  received 
from  them.  Of  them  much  of  the  wonderful 
eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews  might  have  been 
written  for,  like  Abraham,  "  They  went  out  not 
knowing  whither  they  went,  and  truly  if  they 
had  been  mindful  of  that  country  from  whence 
they  came  out,  they  might  have  had  opportunity 

""This,"  says  Simon  Bradstreet,  Jr.,   "was  the  last  thing 
written  in  her  book,  by  my  dear  and  honored  mother." 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  xi 

to  have  returned  .  .  .  Choosing  rather  to 
suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God  than  to 
enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season." 

William  Brewster's  friend  Thomas  Dudley 
emigrated  to  Salem,  Massachusetts,  before  the 
good  Elder  of  Plymouth  was  called  home. 
It  is  very  possible  that  they  met,  for  there  was 
friendship  between  the  two  colonies  from  the 
start,  and  on  May  19, 1643,  deputies  of  the  four 
plantations,  Massachusetts,  New  Plymouth,  Con- 
necticut, and  New  Haven,  assembled  at  Boston, 
"  subscribed  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and 
thus  created  the  first  Federal  Union  on  the 
American  continent." 

This  was  the  year  that  Elder  Brewster  died. 
William  Bradford  tells  how  nobly  and 
bravely  he  lived,  how  triumphantly  and  peace- 
fully he  passed  to  his  reward : 

"  He  lived  by  the  blessing  of  God  in  health 
until  very  old  age,  and  would  labor  with  his 
hands  in  the  fields  as  long  as  he  was  able. 
And  when  the  church  had  no  other  minister,  he 
taught  twice  every  Sabbath,  to  the  great  con- 
tentment of  the  hearers.  He  was  very  stirring 
and  moving  of  the  affections,  also  very  plain 
and  distinct  in  what  he  taught.  He  always 
thought  it  were  better  for  ministers  to  pray 
oftener,  than  be  long  and  tedious,  except  upon 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

solemn  and  special  occasions.  .  .  He  was  of 
a  very  cheerful  spirit,  very  sociable  and  pleasant 
among  his  friends,  tender-hearted  and  com- 
passionate of  such  as  were  in  misery,  but 
especially  of  such  as  had  been  of  good  estate 
and  rank  and  were  fallen  unto  want  and 
poverty  either  for  goodness  and  religion's  sake, 
or  by  the  injury  and  oppression  of  others,  of 
all  men,  he  would  say  these  deserved  to  be 
pitied  most.  And  none  did  more  offend  and 
displease  him  than  such  as  would  haughtily 
and  proudly  carry  and  lift  up  themselves,  being 
risen  from  nothing,  and  having  little  else  in 
them  to  commend  them  but  a  few  fine  cloaths, 
or  a  little  riches  more  than  others." 

"  We  spend  our  days  as  a  tale  that  is  told," 
and  the  tale  of  William  Brewster's  life  is  one 
of  rare  power  and  sweetness,  while  its  end  was 
peace. 

"He  was  fourscore  when  he  died  in  the 
midst  of  his  friends,  who  wept  over  him,  but 
whom  he  comforted  while  he  could — and  then 
as  a  man  falling  into  a  sound  sleep,  without  any 
pangs  or  gaspings,  sweetly  departed  this  life 
unto  a  better." 


PATIENCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SHERWOOD     FOREST. 

What  shall  he  have  who  kills  the  deer  ? 

He  shall  have  the  hoofs  and  the  horns  to  wear. 

— SHAKSPEARE. 

AKLY  in  October  in  the 
year  1605  two  boys  were 
striding  through  Sher- 
wood Forest  near  the 
meeting  of  the  three 
counties  of  Yorkshire,  Lin- 
colnshire, and  Nottingham- 
shire, in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land. The  air  was  crisp  but 
not  cold,  the  ground  cov- 
ered with  a  thick  carpet 
of  fallen  leaves,  through 
which  the  lads  waded  with  delight  in  their  rus- 
tling. The  beeches,  denuded  of  their  foliage, 
gave  long  vistas,  the  interlacing  tracery  of  their 

See  Note  a,  Appendix. 


2  PATIENCE. 

boughs  making  Gothic  arches  above  the  forest 
path.  The  oaks,  clinging  more  tenaciously  to 
their  russet  leaves,  made  splashes  of  maroon  and 
dull,  rich  reds  among  the  pointed  evergreens. 
The  coloring  was  as  harmonious  as  the  time- 
tempered  tints  of  some  glorious  old  tapestiy,  and 
as  full  of  warm  browns,  golden  yellows,  and 
rich  umbers  as  the  canvas  of  a  Dutch  painter. 

The  boys  could  not  have  analyzed  their 
delight  in  the  mellow  autumn  coloring ;  perhaps 
they  did  not  realize  that  any  portion  of  their 
pleasure  came  from  color,  but  they  felt  the 
beauty  about  them  with  the  keen  appreciation 
of  sensitive  but  very  different  natures.  They 
were  twin  brothers,  but  so  unlike  from  their 
birth  that  their  parents  had  given  them  quaint, 
contrasting  names.  "Wrestling  was  strong  and 
active,  domineering  in  spirit,  passionate  and  ob- 
stinate, but  capable  of  deep  affection  and 
tireless  devotion.  Little  of  this  better  nature 
had  shown  itself  as  yet.  His  mother  knew  the 
boy's  heart;  but  his  father  did  not  wholly 
understand  him,  and  Wrestling's  gentler  and 
more  studious  brother  Love  was  evidently  his 
favorite.  Strange  to  say,  though  Wrestling 
recognized  this  he  did  not  resent  it.  He  knew 
that  Love  was  more  gifted  as  a  scholar,  that  he 
was  handsomer,  and  sweeter-tempered  than 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  3 

himself.  It  was  natural  that  others  should 
care  more  for  him.  With  all  his  passionate 
heart  he  adored  his  brother ;  and  his  dark  cheek 
would  glow  with  pleasure  when  others  praised 
him,  and  his  sturdy  fists  clench  with  indig- 
nation when  any  did  him  wrong.  Much  of 
Love's  spare  time  was  spent  in  reading, 
Wrestling's  in  athletic  sports,  but  each  day 
they  took  a  long  walk  together  through  the 
forest  on  their  way  to  and  from  their  lessons ; 
and  Love  would  tell  his  brother  the  tales  and 
repeat  the  poetry  he  had  read ;  and  Wrestling 
would  take  him  on  his  back  across  the  brooks, 
on  scale  the  face  of  a  precipice  for  the  flowers 
he  fancied. 

Wrestling  knew  every  bird  that  they  started, 
and  pointed  out  how  the  timid  but  devoted 
mother  partridge  would  scuttle  along  in  their 
path  to  lure  them  from  her  brood.  He  was  so 
fleet  of  limb  that  he  sometimes  caught  a  hare 
in  his  hands,  and  he  loved  the  red  deer  as 
William  the  Conqueror  loved  them. 

"You  know  so  much,"  Love  would  say, 
"about  the  wild  creatures;  but,  as  Dickon 
Moore  said  to  me  the  other  day,  I  could  not 
tell  a  hawk  from  a  handsaw." 

"I  will  smite  Dickon  for  that  when  I  see 
him  next,"  said  Wrestling. 


4  PATIENCE. 

"Nay,  brother,  for  Dickon  was  righter  than 
he  knew.  That  old  saying  of  the  vulgar  should 
be  'an  hawk  from  an  heronsha/wj  which  bird 
the  hawk  so  resembles  that  I  fancy  Dickon 
himself  could  not  differ  them." 

"  I  hope  thou  toldst  him  so,  and  so  got  the 
better  of  him,"  said  Wrestling.  "  Tell  me  now 
some  more  verses  from  the  plays  that  Master 
Bradstreet  lent  thee.  I'll  warrant  the  man  who 
writ  them  had  lived  in  the  woods  and  loved 
the  birds  and  beasties." 

"  That  he  did,  Wrestling ;  and  he  disdained 
not  to  put  their  language  in  his  verse,  for  he 
says  in  one  place : 

"  The  lark  that  tirra  lirra  chants: 
With  hey  !  with  hey !  the  thrush  and  the  jay, 
Are  summer  songs  for  me  and  my  aunts 
While  we  lie  tumbling  in  the  hay !  " 

Wrestling  clapped  his  hands,  and  repeated 
"  Tirra  lirra,  tirra  lirra !  "  with  a  more  imitative 
intonation  than  his  brother  had  done;  then 
folding  his  arms,  he  tossed  his  head  upward, 
exclaiming : 

"  Why  should  we  ever  go  indoors  ?  What 
fools  men  are  to  build  houses  ! " 

"  It  would  be  fine  sport  to  live  in  the  open 
for  the  summer,  but  what  would  you  do  in  the 
winter  season  2 "  asked  the  more  delicate  boy. 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  5 

"  What  Robin  Hood  and  his  merry  men  did 
in  this  very  forest,"  replied  Wrestling — "  sleep 
by  a  campfire,  and  when  the  nights  grew  too 
cold  for  that,  couch  us  on  skins  in  his  cave  as 
warm  as  cubs." 

"  Have  you  found  nis  habitation,  that  you 
speak  so  confidently  ? " 

"  Some  sort  of  a  cave  have  I  found.  I 
chased  a  fox  to  it,  and  went  in  with  a  torch. 
It  might  have  been  the  hermitage  of  Friar 
Tuck,  but  that  the  entrance  is  too  narrow  for 
his  round  paunch.  I  will  show  it  to  you  if 
you  will  promise  not  to  tell.  It  were  a  good 
hiding  in  time  of  trouble." 

"  It  may  be,"  said  Love,  "  that  Queen  Margaret 
was  hidden  there,  or  some  priest  in  the  time  of 
Queen  Bess.  And  it  may  be  we  shall  have  to 
hide  there  ourselves,  if  King  James  continues 
his  persecutions." 

"  I  have  thought  so,"  said  Wrestling,  "  and  I 
wish  with  all  my  heart  that  our  father  had 
followed  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  on  his  adventures 
and  taken  us  all  to  the  wilds  of  Virginia,  where 
we  might  be  living  as  free  as  the  savages." 

"  But  poor  Sir  Walter  lies  now  a  prisoner  at 
the  Tower  under  sentence  of  death." 

"  The  more  fool  he  for  coming  back  to  the 
trap ;  any  fox  would  have  known  better.  Our 


6  PATIENCE. 

wicked  king  hates  him  as  he  does  all  good  men. 
They  must  either  conform,  or  flee,  or  die ;  and, 
for  my  part,  I  prefer  the  middle  course." 

u  There  is  still  another  alternative,"  said  a 
.voice  from  behind  a  thicket,  which  now  parted, 
and  a  dark,  foreign-looking  man  stood  before 
them :  "  the  deer  and  the  fox  run  when  they 
are  hunted,  but  the  boar  turns  and  uses  his 
tusks.  It  is  the  instinct  of  a  brave  animal  and 
a  brave  man  to  slay  rather  than  be  slain." 

Love  looked  at  the  stranger  in  some  alarm, 
but  Wrestling  exclaimed  boldly,  "Who  are 
you  that  speak  so  wildly,  and  what  have  you 
been  doing  in  my  cave  ? " 

"  Who  I  am  concerns  you  not,"  replied  the 
strange  man.  "  I  have  indeed  passed  the  night 
in  yonder  hole,  but  by  what  right  you  call  it 
yours  I  know  not." 

"  I  discovered  it,"  Wrestling  replied  boldly. 

"  The  right  of  discovery  is  a  good  one,"  re- 
plied the  stranger,  "  but  others  found  it  before 
you.  It  has  been  a  hiding  place  for  priests 
ever  since  our  late  queen,  of  hated  memory, 
began  to  persecute  them,  and  here  many  a 
refugee  hath  been  nourished  by  good  Catholics 
of  the  neighborhood,  of  whom,  from  the  senti- 
ments which  I  have  just  heard,  you  are  doubt- 
less one." 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  7 

"  I  am  no  papist ! "  Wrestling  replied  hotly  ; 
but  Love  pulled  at  bis  sleeve,  and  he  paused. 

"  Ah !  then  you  have  other  grievance  against 
our  sovereign  lord  King  Jarnes.  It  is  not  for 
me  to  inquire  too  closely  what  it  may  be. 
Suffice  it  that  we-  are  in  the  same  case,  and  can 
injure  or  help  each  other  as  we  will.  I  have 
heard  enough  to  know  that  your  father  is  a 
law-breaker,  and  a  proscribed  man,  but  he  may 
be  no  rogue  for  all  that,  and  I  will  keep  his 
secret  if  you  will  aid  me  in  my  present  busi- 
ness. You  know  doubtless  that  King  James 
and  his  court  hunt  to-day  in  this  forest.  I  have 
been  told  that  they  will  drive  the  game  in  this 
direction,  but  it  is  past  the  time  that  they 
should  have  come.  Have  you  seen  aught  of 
the  chase  as  you  came  across  the  forest  ?  I 
have  a  petition  of  importance  that  I  would 
fain  present  to  his  Majesty." 

"  Thou  canst  not  be  of  these  parts,"  Wrest- 
ling answered,  "  or  thou  wouldst  know  that  they 
hunted  yesterday.  Our  village  was  all  at  the 
windows  to  get  sight  of  the  procession  as  it  came 
forth  from  the  forest  at  noon.  It  was  a  brave 
sight — the  lords  all  in  velvet  and  plumed  hats, 
the  ladies  finer  still,  and  the  prancing  horses 
the  prettiest  sight  of  all.  Then  there  were  the 
dogs  yelping,  and  the  servants  bearing  the 


8  PATIENCE. 

game  on  poles — venison  enough  to  stock  all 
the  butteries  in  our  village  for  the  winter." 

"  I  was  sorry,"  broke  in  Love,  "  to  see  so 
many  poor  dead  does,  and  didst  thou  mark  one 
little  fawn  trotting  after  its  dead  mother  ?  Even 
the  rough  grooms  had  pity  for  it,  for  they 
kept  the  dogs  from  it." 

"  I  marked  it  not,"  said  Wrestling.  "  Hunt- 
ing is  rare  sport,  and  I  would  I  were  in  some 
wild  new  country  to  hunt  my  fill,  and  to  eat 
my  fill  too  of  juicy  venison  cutlets  boiled  over 
the  campfire.  But  here  is  Hatfield  Chase 
stripped  in  one  day  by  the  slaughter,  I  say  not 
the  hunting,  of  its  game,  for  the  beaters  drove 
them  into  herds  where  they  were  shot  down 
by  such  of  the  nobles  as  could  hit  a  near  mark, 
while  the  king  killed  only  one  of  his  dogs. 
The  boys  of  this  region  are  not  allowed  so 
much  sport  as  to  trap  one  of  the  thievish  foxes 
that  rob  the  henroosts.  Nay,  nor  to  course  a 
hare,  when  the  forest  is  so  thick  with  them  that 
they  tumble  over  one  another,  and  grow  so  bold 
that  they  eat  all  the  cabbages  from  the  stalks  in 
their  gardens,  while  their  mothers  grow  white- 
faced  for  lack  of  nourishment,  and  the  kitchen 
pot  has  been  clean  of  meat  broth  all  winter. 
What  was  done  with  the  king's  bag  of  game  I 
know  not.  I  only  know  that  we  have  good 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  9 

cause  to  remember  the  hunt  at  our  house,  for 
we  fed  the  hunters  :  the  court  in  the  great  hall, 
the  huntsmen  and  servants  on  the  lawn,  the 
horses  in  the  stables,  and  the  dogs  in  the 
kennels.  It  cost  my  father  a  month's  salary. 
They  were  like  a  pestilence,  and  they  came  like 
the  pestilence  without  invitation,  settling  on  us 
like  the  grasshoppers  of  Egypt." 

The  stranger  muttered  an  oath,  and  drove 
his  dagger  into  a  harmless  lizard  that  was  slip- 
ping along  the  trunk  of  the  tree. 

"  Be  not  vexed  that  thou  hast  lost  thy  oppor- 
tunity," said  Love  c6nsolingly.  "  A  petition 
was  delivered,  perchance  it  was  the  one  which 
thou  hast  at  heart.  It  came  from  the  country 
people,  who  asked  the  right  to  pasture  their 
cattle  in  the  waste  lands,  which  are  now  kept 
for  hunting.  The  king  hath  so  many  forests  he 
might  well  have  granted  some,  but  he  did  not." 

"  And  the  petitioner  ?  He  was  sent  to 
prison  doubtless  for  his  pains  ? " 

Love  laughed  merrily.  "  The  king  caressed 
the  bearer  of  the  petition,  and  ordered  that  he 
should  receive  a  good  dinner,  which  he  did 
(again  at  my  father's  cost).  It  was  Medor  his 
best  staghound.  The  device  was  Captain 
Dudley's,  but  the  execution  was  my  brother's. 
Captain  Dudley  is  the  steward  to  the  Earl  of 


10  PATIENCE. 

Lincoln,  but  he  is  kind  to  the  tenants  and  the 
small  farmers,  and  they  asked  him  to  draw  up 
this  petition,  which  he  did,  and  he  bade  Wrest- 
ling fasten  it  to  the  collar  of  the  king's  favorite 
dog  when  the  chase  was  over.  Wrestling  did  it 
very  cleverly,  for  he  is  not  afraid  of  dogs,  and 
the  hound  ran  straight  to  the  king  and  fawned 
upon  him.  That  was  at  the  finish  in  the  forest, 
when  they  all  met  at  Robin  Hood's  Oak,  before 
they  left  the  wood.  Wrestling  knew  that  the 
huntsmen  would  come  that  way,  and  waited 
there  for  them." 

"  Robin  Hood's  Oak  !  "  repeated  the  stranger. 
"  I  was  told  the  rendezvous  would  be  near 
Robin  Hood's  Hiding,  and  so  I  came  to  this 
cave." 

"The  oak  is  in  quite  another  part  of  the 
forest,"  said  Wrestling.  "  It  is  the  hollow  tree 
in  which  the  outlaw  hung  his  venison.  I  can 
show  you  the  hooks  around  which  the  live 
wood  has  grown,  and  there  were  bucks'  antlers 
imbedded  in  the  moss  under  one  of  the  roots 
which  had  grown  over  it.  Perhaps  thou  canst 
reckon  how  long  it  would  take  a  root  to  grow 
like  that.  It  was  the  sight  of  the  forest,  but  I 
cannot  show  the  antlers  -to  thee,  for  the  king 
had  them  dug  up  to  carry  away  as  a  souvenir 
of  his  hunt." 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  li 

"We  must  turn  huntsmen,"  growled  the 
strange  man,  "  if  we  would  save  our  own  skins, 
and  perhaps  we  may  also  win  the  trophies  of 
the  chase." 

Wrestling  did  not  notice  the  interruption. 
"The  oak  is  a  good  one  to  hide  in,"  he  con- 
tinued. "  I  heard  the  king  read  the  petition. 
'  Good  Medor,'  it  began, '  we  beg  you  to  speak 
to  his  Majesty,  who  hears  you  every  day,  and 
does  not  listen  to  us.'  How  the  king  laughed  ! 
but  he  tore  up  the  paper  all  the  same.  I  think 
he  had  been  drinking." 

"  Certes  it  was  a  bad  day  for  petitions,"  said 
Love.  "  My  father  had  one  which  he  meant 
to  present  on  bended  knee,  after  the  king  had 
well  dined,  that  there  might  be  no  constraint 
as  to  the  preaching  in  the  private  chapel  of  our 
house,  where  he  had  been  so  loyally  entertained. 
But  the  king  came  not  near  us,  and  my  father's 
request  got  no  further  than  my  Lord  Burleigh, 
who  waited  at  our  house  until  the  hunt  was 
over,  meeting  it  as  it  issued  from  the  forest,  and 
carrying  the  king  off  to  one  of  the  great  houses 
of  the  Dukery.  My  father  knew  that  Lord 
Burleigh  was  not  favorable  to  our  religion ;  but 
when  that  nobleman  saw  what  pains  my  father 
had  been  at  for  the  feeding  of  the  huntsmen,  he 
swore  as  he  was  leaving  that  if  my  father  had 


12  PATIEKCtt. 

any  boon  to  crave  of  his  Majesty,  he  would 
present  it  .with  his  own  hands ;  and  iny  father 
gave  him  the  petition.  But  I  trust  him  not. 
He  is  mean  of  stature,  and,  I  doubt  not,  mean 
of  soul.  I  held  his  horse  while  he  stood  at 
our  gateway  waiting  for  the  king.  He  read  the 
petition  there,  and  his  thin,  foxy  face  lighted 
with  evil  glee  as  he  handed  it  to  one  of  liis 
gentlemen.  *  It  is  as  I  suspected,'  I  heard  him 
say  :  '  this  region  swarms  with  Puritans — Sepa- 
ratists. This  petition  conies  in  good  time  for 
the  business  we  have  in  hand.  Take  it  and 
give  me  full  account  of  every  member  of  this 
conventicle.  They  shall  have  answer  beyond 
their  hearts'  desire.'  I  judged  then  that  the 
paper  would  never  reach  the  king,  and  I  told 
my  father  what  I  had  overheard;  but  he  said 
there  could  no  harm  come  from  it  to  any  but 
himself,  for  he  alone  had  signed  the  petition." 

"And  so  the  hunt  is  dissolved,"  said  the 
stranger.  "  Where  went  the  king  and  his  court 
after  it  was  over  ? " 

"  The  king  came  riding  up  in  a  jovial  mood. 
'  Good  sport,  good  sport,  Cecil,'  he  said  to  my 
Lord  Burleigh ;  '  thou  shouldst  have  been  with 
us.' 

"'Your  Majest}^  knows,'  said  my  Lord  Bur- 
leigh, 1 1  find  no  sport  in  hunting  beasts.' 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  13 

" '  House-cat/  said  the  king,  '  them  lovest 
silken  cushions  better  than  a  hard  saddle.' 

"  '  I  love  not  the  name  of  cat,  though  your 
Majesty  has  more  than  one  rat  in  cage  which 
would  not  have  been  caught  but  for  my 
claws.' 

"  And  so  they  rode  away  laughing.  I  heard 
that  they  went  to  one  of  the  great  houses  in 
the  Dukery." 

"  AVe  call  this  region  the  Dukery,"  Wrestling 
explained,  "  because  six  great  dukes  have  their 
castles  there.  Some  of  the  courtiers  are  still 
visiting  with  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  who  has  a 
hunting  lodge  on  his  side  of  Sherwood  Forest. 
We  have  just  come  from  it,  and  Patience 
told  us  that  she  is  going  away  to  visit  with 
one  of  the  fine  ladies.  That  is  another  boon 
for  which  we  have  to  thank  his  Grace  the  king. 
He  and  his  courtiers  are  not  content  to  take 
the  deer,  but  must  rob  us  of  our  friends  as 
well.  Patience  was  all  agog  because,  forsooth, 
she  was  going  to  see  the  Princess  Elizabeth." 

O  O 

"  The  princess !  Tell  me  that  tale  again. 
What  was  the  lady's  name,  and  who  is  this 
Patience  2" 

"  I  marked  not  the  lady's  name,"  said  Love, 
"  but  Patience  is  Captain  Dudley's  daughter,  and 
the  prettiest  girl  in  all  the  county  of  Lincoln, 


14  PATIENCE. 

or  in  England  for  that  matter.  There  is  a  Cam- 
bridge student,  Mr.  Simon  Bradstreet,  who  is 
spending  his  vacation  at  her  father's  house, 
who  is  teaching  Latin,  and  we  go  every  day 
to  read  with  him.  He  has  brought  other 
books  with  him  from  the  university  beside  the 
Latin  ones.  Patience  reads  them,  and  we  talk 
about  them  together  in  the  arbor.  They  are 
play  books  and  poesie ;  such  as  my  father  will 
not  have  in  our  house." 

The  stranger  no  longer  paid  attention  to  the 
boys.  "The  king  hath  gone  away  with  Cecil, 
then  it  is  to  Theobald's,  and  I  have  missed  my 
chance."  Turning  to  Wrestling,  he  added :  "  I 
am  not  alone ;  my  little  daughter  is  with  me. 
We  heard  in  Yorkshire  that  the  king  was  to 
hunt  here  to-day,  and  so  we  came  last  night 
and  slept  in  this  cave  that  we  might  not  miss 
him.  But  we  were  misinformed  as  to  time 
and  place,  and  we  have  met  with  another  mis- 
fortune. I  hobbled  my  horse  near  by,  but  he 
is  gone,  and  I  have  spent  two  good  hours  in 
search  of  him.  Here  is  a  purse  of  money  ;  get 
me  another  horse  and  bring  it  here  privately, 
and  there  shall  no  harm  come  to  your  father 
from  what  I  have  overheard." 

"I  can  do  better  for  thee  than  to  buy  a 
horse,  for  my  father  is  master  of  the  post  at 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  15 

Scrooby,  and  it  is  Lis  office  to  let  horses,  to  such 
travelers  as  be  men  of  sort,  to  ride  with  the 
post  to  the  next  station.  So  if  it  is  your  pleas- 
ure to  ride,  either  north  or  south,  he  can  put 
you  on  your  way,  even  if  your  concerns  be  not 
directly  of  the  king's  business." 

"My  business  did  indeed  greatly  concern 
the  king,"  replied  the  stranger,  "  though  his 
Majesty  would  not  on  that  account  hasten  my 
journey.  I  will  trust  you  to  keep  a  close 
tongue  in  your  head  as  to  my  affairs.  Say 
naught  of  our  conversation,  which  hath  been 

O  ' 

somewhat  too  intimate  on  both  sides,  or  where 
you  found  me.  I  will  make  my  own  explana- 
tion to  your  father.  I  would  you  could  lead 
me  to  him  without  passing  through  the  village." 

"  That  can  I  very  easily,"  replied  Wrestling, 
"for  our  house  is  apart  from  the  town,  in  a  fair 
park  which  adjoins  this  forest,  fo'r  it  is  the 
hunting  palace  of  the  Archbishops  of  York, 
which  we  lease  of  his  Grace.  We  can  go  in  by 
the  postern  gate,  through  the  wall  between  the 
forest  and  the  park,  and,  passing  by  the  stables, 
none  will  see  you  save  the  hostlers  and  the  post- 
boys." 

"  'Tis  a  lucky  chance,"  replied  the  stranger. 
"  Come,  Philippa." 

The  bushes  parted  again,  and  a  girl  of  about 


16  PATIENCE. 

the  same  age  as  the  boys  came  from  the  cave 
and  joined  her  father.  She  was  dressed  in  a 
riding  habit  of  dark  green.  She  was  dark  and 
handsome,  like  the  man,  but  she  had,  like  him, 
a  wild  look  in  her  restless  eyes,  which  scanned 
each  of  the  boys'  faces  searchingly,  and  then 
evaded  their  frankly  questioning  gaze.  She 
carried  across  her  arm  a  pair  of  small  saddle- 
bags, which  her  father  took  from  her,  mutter- 
ing, "  It  is  well  I  did  not  lose  these  with  the 
horse,"  and,  signing  to  Wrestling  to  lead  the 
way,  strode  after  him. 

The  girl  followed,  and  Love  brought  up  the 
rear,  but  the  stranger  and  his  guide  walked  so 
rapidly  that  the  girl  could  not,  or  did  not  care 
to,  keep  pace  with  them,  and  a  space  soon  inter- 
vened between  the  two  couples.  The  path 
broadened  as  they  approached  the  village,  and 
Love  walked  by  the  side  of  his  companion, 
clearing  the  way  of  fallen  branches.  She  eyed 
him  furtively,  and  at  length  spoke. 

"  I  know  we  can  trust  you,  not  because,  as  my 
father  said,  we  are  in  like  case,  but  because 
your  face  is  good.  You  would  not  do  mischief 
to  anyone." 

"Less  willingly  of  all  to  any  in  trouble," 
Love  replied. 

The  girl  straightened  herself  proudly.     "We 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  17 

are  not  common  malefactors.  We  are  perse- 
cuted because  of  our  religion." 

"  So  are  we,"  said  Love. 

"  And  yet  you  are  not  Catholics  ? " 

"  No,  we  lean  to  the  other  side,  and  are  for 
freedom  in  religion." 

The  girl  looked  at  him  sadly.  "  May  the 
Blessed  Virgin  forgive  you  !  You  are,  then, 
atheists  ? " 

"  God  forbid  ! "  Love  replied  quickly.  "  It  is 
but  freedom  from  the  domination  of  prelacy 
that  we  ask.  We  are  true  Christians  in  our 
belief." 

The  girl  shook  her  head.  "  Such  quibbling 
is  past  my  comprehension,"  she  said.  "  One 
thing,  however,  I  comprehend — we  must  be 
alike  in  faith,  for  we  are  persecuted  by  the 
same  wicked  power.  What  is  your  name  ? 
Mine  is  Philippa." 

Love  was  better  instructed  in  their  differences. 
Popery  was  a  greater  error,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  Puritans,  than  episcopacy,  but  he  felt  the 
comradeship  of  a  common  proscription,  and  he 
answered  gravely :  "  I  say  not  that  thou  art 
right  because  thou  art  persecuted,  but  they  who 
persecute  are  always  evildoers.  My  name  is 
Love,  and  I  am  at  thy  service." 

The  girl  smiled  archly.     She  was  old  for  her 


18  PATIENCE. 

years.  "  'Tis  a  pretty  offer — or  is  it  your  name 
in  truth  ?  I  like  Love  in  any  case." 

Love  did  not  know  what  to  say  in  reply,  and 
he  was  silent.  They  passed  from  the  forest  into 
the  park,  and  Philippa  saw  with  surprise  a 
stately  brick  building  extending  around  two 
courtyards,  and  itself  surrounded  by  a  moat, 
bridged  in  front  by  a  flight  of  white  marble 
steps,  which  led  down  to  an  avenue  of  noble 
oaks. 

"  'Tis  a  grand  house,"  she  said.  "  Your  father 
must  be  a  man  of  consequence." 

"  We  love  our  home,"  the  boy  replied,  ignor- 
ing the  questioning  reference  to  his  father. 
'*  It  is  the  ancient  hunting  seat  of  Hat-field 
Chase,  as  they  call  this  part  of  Sherwood  For- 
est. Queen  Margaret  and  King  Henry  VIII. 
have  been  guests  here  in  time  past,  and  Wol- 
sey,  who,  though  in  disgrace,  was  still  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  came  here,  as  I  have  heard  my 
father  say,  when  trouble  had  humbled  him,  and 
lived  simply  as  a  good  Christian  should,  visiting 
his  poor  parishioners  in  their  cottages,  distrib- 
uting alms,  and  sympathizing  in  their  sorrows. 

They  entered  the  house.  Though  containing 
thirty-nine  rooms  of  ample  proportions,  it  was 
severely  furnished,  but  the  simplicity  of  its  ap- 
pointment was  evidently  rather  the  result  of  an 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  19 

ascetic  taste  than  poverty  of  means.  The  mas- 
ter received  the  strangers  in  the  great  hall, 
ceiled  and  wainscoted  with  carved  oak,  and  hos- 
pitably pressed  them  to  dine  with  his  numerous 
household  while  waiting  the  arrival  of  the  post. 

William  Brewster  had  held  an  office  of  trust 
in  the  foreign  diplomatic  service  under  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  at  her  court,  but  at  present  he 
was  leading  the  quiet  life  of  a  country  gentle- 
man, and  performing  the  duties  of  master  of 
the  post  for  the  neighboring  town  of  Scrooby. 
A  master  of  the  post  at  this  time  was  quite 
another  sort  of  official  from  the  postmaster  of 
our  own. 

He  kept  a  stable  and  horses,  with  several 
couriers,  whose  business  it  was  to  forward  to 
the  next  station  all  packets  sent  by  the  king 
or  his  officers  along  the  highroad  to  Scotland. 
It  was  before  the  time  of  post  offices,  as  we 
know  them,  of  railroads,  or  even  of  coaching;  but 
travelers  on  horseback  could  accompany  the 
post-rider  and  have  the  benefit  of  his  guidance, 
sending  the  horses  which  they  hired  at  one 
station  back  from  any  other  by  other  postboys. 
The*  roads  were  so  blind  that  a  guide  was  a 
desideratum  to  a  traveler  not  perfectly  ac- 
quainted with  the  way.  It  was  safer,  too,  to 
travel  in  company,  for  highwaymen  who  scrti- 


20  PA  TIENCE. 

pled  not  to  attack  solitary  travelers,  hesitated 
to  commit  an  outrage  on  the  royal  messenger, 
who  would  certainly  be  avenged  by  the  law, 
and  who  carried  two  good  blunderbusses  in  his 
holsters.  The  courier,  though  admonished  to 
"ride  haste  post  haste,"  and  not  to  turn  aside 
from  his  way  or  stay  in  delivering  the  royal 
packet,  was  allowed  also  to  carry  private  letters, 
which  were  left  at  the  regular  post  stations, 
and  this  was  the  origin  of  the  post  office  and 
postal  service. 

William  Brewster  inscribed  the  name  of  John 
Johnson,  which  the  stranger  gave  him,  in  the 
post  record  ;  but  as  his  mind  was  full  of  weighty 
matters,  which  preoccupied  him  even  while  he 
scrupulously  performed  his  official  duties,  he 
made  no  inquiry  into  the  traveler's  business 
or  as  to  the  manner  of  his  coming.  At  table 

O 

the  talk  was  of  Holland,  where  both  host  and 
guest  had  traveled ;  the  latter,  though  he  did 
not  confess  it,  as  a  soldier  in  the  service  of 
Spain,  and  Brewster,  as  he  avowed,  only  a 
spectator  of  the  hostilities,  but  a  sympathizer 
with  the  Dutch. 

After  dinner  Wrestling  passed  into  his 
father's  office  before  the  others,  and  saw  a 
strange  man  standing  before  his  desk  examin- 
ing his  papers. 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  21 

"  What  do  you  mean,"  the  boy  shouted,  "  by 
meddling  with  my  father's  private  papers  ?  " 

"  Hold  your  tongue  ! "  the  man  exclaimed,  his 
face  ugly  in  its  anger — "  hold  your  tongue,  or 
it  will  be  worse  for  you ! " 

"  I  will  not ! "  Wrestling  cried  loudly,  as  his 
father  and  his  guest  entered  the  room.  "  This 
man  has  been  reading  your  letters,"  and  he 
pointed  to  the  papers  lying  on  the  desk. 

"  I  have  touched  nothing,"  said  the  man,  with 
a  great  show  of  indignation.  "I  expected  a 
letter  and  was  merely  looking  to  see  if  it  had 
arrived.  By  the  mass !  Fawkes,  where  did 
you  come  from  ?  " 

He  had  caught  sight  of  the  traveler  from 
the  forest  who  had  introduced  himself  as  John- 
son, and  their  surprise  was  evidently  mutual. 
They  stepped  aside  and  spoke  to  each  other  in 
low  tones. 

"It  is  well  you  missed  him,"  Wrestling 
heard  the  newcomer  say ;  "  the  time  is  not 
ripe.  Catesby  expects  you  at  my  house  in 
London,"  and  the  stranger  slipped  out  of  the 
room.  Love  caught  sight  of  him  as  he  left  the 
house,  and  ran  in  exclaiming:  "That  was  the 
man  with  whom  Cecil  was  speaking  yesterday ! 
What  did  he  here?" 

"  Naught  of  ill,"  replied  William  Brewster, 


22  PATIENCE. 

who  had  looked  over  his  papers,  and  did  not 
at  that  time  notice  that  anything  had  been 
abstracted ;  while  Mr.  Johnson  assured  his 
host  that  Love  must  be  mistaken,  for  he  knew 
the  man  well,  and  that  he  was  a  Mr.  Percy  of 
London,  and  no  friend  or  servant  of  Cecil's. 

The  postman  from  the  north  country  arrived 
shortly  after,  jaded  with  his  long  ride.  He 
delivered  his  packet  into  Brewster's  hands,  and 
led  his  horse  around  to  the  stable.  Here  an 
unexpected  annoyance  was  discovered.  The 
hostler  brought  a  horse  for  the  courier  and 
one  for  the  traveler,  with  a  pillion  behind  for 
his  daughter,  but  the  fresh  postman  whose  duty 
it  was  to  replace  the  one  who  had  just  arrived 
could  not  be  found. 

Wrestling  reported  the  fact  to  his  father,  and 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  ride  in  his  stead. 

"  Thou  art  a  good  rider,  and  I  would  sooner 
trust  thee  than  any  other,"  said  William 
Brewster.  "  Take,  then,  this  packet  and  deliver 
it  at  the  next  post,  defending  it  with  thy  life." 

Wrestling  sprang  to  the  saddle  with  alacrity, 
examining  the  priming  of  the  pistols  a  little 
vaingloriously,  as  his  brother  more  courteously 
made  a  step  of  his  clasped  hands  and  lifted 
the  young  girl  to  her  seat  behind  her  father. 

Turning,  Love   took  the   stirrup  cup  filled 


SHERWOOD  FOREST.  23 

with  foaming  ale  from  his  sister's  hands,  and 
lifted  it  to  the  travelers,  while  Wrestling, 
blowing  a  mighty  blast  on  the  postman's  horn 
which  hung  beside  the  holsters,  struck  spur  to 
his  horse  and  started  down  the  avenue  on  a 
gallop.  The  stranger  held  in  his  horse  until  he 
had  drained  the  tankard,  while  the  maid,  lean- 
ing toward  Love,  whispered,  "  I  wish  you  were 
going  with  us  instead  of  your  brother." 

"  Where  are  you  going  ? "  Love  asked,  but 
at  that  instant  the  traveler  thrust  the  tankard 
into  his  hand,  and  struck  the  horse  a  blow  with 
his  riding  whip  which  sent  him  lumbering 
after  the  amateur  postboy,  who  was  already 
far  down  the  avenue. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE    FIGURES    IN    THE    BACKGROUND. 

Vanished  is  the  ancient  splendor,  but  before  ray  dreamy  eye 
Wave  these  mingled  shapes  and  figures  like  a  faded  tapestry. 

— LONGFELLOW. 

O      one       would 
have     guessed 
as     Love     ran 
merrily  around 
to   the  stables 
with  the  hostler,  Dick- 
on Moore,  that  the  boy 
would    have     enjoyed 
the   errand    on   which 
his  brother   had  gone. 


Wrestling  seized  every 
opportunity  for  adven- 
ture which  came  in  his  way ;  and  Love,  who 
never  pushed  himself  forward,  was  regarded 
as  having  no  .taste  for  experiences  requiring 
courage  or  physical  endurance. 

He  never,  however,  tired  of  reading  and  of 
hearing  tales  of  such  adventures,  and  this  was 
the  attraction  for  him  at  the  stables,  for  Dickon 

24 


FIGURES  IX  THE  BACKGROUND.      25 

Moore  had  served  in  the  Netherlands  under 
Leicester.  His  helmet  and  cuirass  hung  in  the 
harness  room,  and  indeed  he  called  them  his 
harness.  There  were  dints  of  Spanish  spears 
on  his  breastplate,  and  the  bridge  of  his  nose 
had  been  broken  by  the  staff  of  the  spear  that 
had  shivered  on  his  stout  armor,  while  the  same 
unfortunate  nose  had  been  further  disfigured 
by  many  potations  of  strong  Holland  ale  and 
stronger  gin,  thought  his  weakness  had  been 
conquered  since  his  employment  by  William 
Brewster. 

John  Johnston,  alias  Fawkes,  on  taking  his 
horse  had  said  : 

"  You  have  been  in  Holland,  my  man,  and 
your  record  is  written  where  he  who  runs  may 
read." 

Dickon's  face  grew  a  shade  redder,  as  he 
answered,  "  It  is  written  that  he  who  reads  may 
run."  He  grumbled  this  reply  over  to  himself 
now,  adding,  "Where  have  I  seen  that  man 
before  ?  Gadsooks !  but  he  did  run !  He  is 
the  Spanish  soldier  who  broke  my  nose,  and 
whose  broken  spear  I  wrested  from  his  hand. 
He  missed  my  stroke  and  dashed  by  me,  but 
not  before  his  face  was  stamped  on  my  memory. 
If  my  Sergeant  Miles  Stand  ish  were  here,  he 
would  have  recognized  him  too,  for  he  was  at 


26  PATIENCE. 

my  side.  Now  what  is  he  doing  here,  I 
wonder  ?  " 

"  Tell  me  about  the  war  in  Holland,  Dickon," 
Love  begged. 

"You  should  ask  your  father  for  that,"  the 
hostler  replied,  "for  I  saw  only  long  marches 
and  short  provender,  with  no  knowledge  of 
what  it  was  all  about ;  but  the  master  was  in 
the  councils  of  the  generals,  and  of  the  queen ; 
his  was  the  hand  that  moved  the  pawns,  and  he 
could  really  understand  the  game.  Cogs  nouns  ! 
I'll  warrant  he'd  like  well  to  be  at  it  again. 
When  a  man  has  had  a  taste  of  real  fighting, 
this  spiritual  warfare  against  Satan  in  one's 
soul  is  but  a  poor  substitute.  I  would  rather 
march  up  to  a  fort  than  into  chapel  any  day, 
and  I  like  the  beating  of  the  drums  better  than 
singing  psalms,  thougn  some  of  them  are  not  so 
bad,"  and  he  began  to  sing,  in  a  harsh  and 
unmusical  voice : 

"'  Within  their  mouth  doe  thou  their  teeth  break  out, 

O  God  most  strong, 
Doe  thou,  Jehovah,  the  great  teeth  break  of  the  lions 

young.'" 

When  Dickon  sang  Love  always  fled,  and  he 
now  returned  to  the  house. 

The  master  of  the  post,  to  whose  sons  and 


FIGURES  IN  THE  BACKGROUND.      27 

home  we  have  been  introduced,  had  cause  to  be 
preoccupied  and  to  carry  on  his  light  duties  in 
a  mechanical  manner,  for  there  weighed  upon 
him  at  this  time  "  the  care  of  all  the  churches." 
He  was  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Separa- 
tist movement  in  this  part  of  England,  the  one 
man  of  ability  and  means  upon  whom  the 
devoted  band  of  simple  sufferers  for  conscience' 
sake  leaned,  and  to  whom  they  looked  with 
what  little  hope  they  had  for  issue  from  their 
perplexities. 

He  was  their  elder,  who  saw,  often  at  his 
own  expense,  that  their  pulpits  were  supplied 
with  conscientious  and  fearless  ministers  of  the 
Word.  Each  Sabbath  there  was  preaching  in 
the  chapel  of  the  archepiscopal  palace,  that 
chapel  where  Wolsey  had  said  mass,  and  many 
another  prelate  read  the  service  which  was  to 
William  Brewster  and  his  charge  no  better 
than  the  ceremonies  of  the  Romish  Church. 
He  did  this,  he  knew,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  for 
the  edict  framed  against  Nonconformists  by 
Elizabeth  still  stood  in  the  reign  of  James  I,* 
and  the  king  was  even  more  insistent  than 
Elizabeth  had  been  on  stamping  out  every 
form  of  religion  except  that  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  There  were  at  this  time  three 
prominent  sects  in  England,  and  we  will  re- 

*  See  Note  b,  Appendix. 


23  PATIENCE. 

member  them  more  easily  if  we  group  them 
as  the  three  P's — Protestants,  Papists,  and 
Puritans. 

The  Established  Church  of  England  had 
been  made  Protestant  during  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIIL,  but  fully  half  of  the  English  people  had 
not  changed  their  faith  with  the  Reformation, 
and  were  still  Roman  Catholics — or,  as  the 
Protestants  called  them,  Papists.  The  Puri- 
tans were  seceders  from  the  Established 
Church:  doubly  Protestants  in  protesting 
against  the  forms  and  abuses  of  the  Protes- 
tants; and  these  three  sects,  while  each  con- 
tained many  noble  and  true  Christians,  were  at 
enmity  among  themselves.  As  usual,  the  sect 
in  power  made  the  mistake  of  striving  to 
exterminate  the  others,  whose  zeal  only  burned 
the  brighter  in  persecution.  Another  capital 
P,  Plotting,  was  a  marked  characteristic  of  the 
time.  The  Papists  had  recourse  to  plots 
against  the  Protestants,  and  the  Protestants 
replied  with  counterplots  against  Papists  and 
Puritans  alike.  Only  the  Puritans  seem  at  this 
time  to  have  walked  guilelessly,  showing  none 
of  the  wisdom  of  serpents  in  their  proceedings. 
Especially  was  this  the  case  of  the  Separatists, 
who  were  Puritans  of  the  very  strictest  sect, 
and  for  the  most  part  were  poor  and  obscure 


QUEEN   ELISABETH. 


FIGUKES  IN  THE  BACKGROUND.      29 

people,  giving  their  enemies  nothing  to  envy  or 
to  fear.  But  they  were  too  conscientious  to  con- 
ceal their  views,  and  as  they  became  more 
numerous  their  meetings  attracted  attention. 
Their  ministers  were  forbidden  to  preach,  and 
fines  and  imprisonment  were  visited  upon  them. 
William  Brewster,  while  absolutely  without 
fear  for  himself,  had  determined  to  protect 
this  infant  church,  and  his  consternation  was 
great  that  evening  on  looking  through  the 
church  record-book  to  find  that  the  confession 
of  faith,  with  the  signatures  of  all  the  members, 
had  been  recently  torn  out. 

The  discovery  was  accompanied  by  such 
a  cry  of  dismay  that  Love,  who  lay  curled  up 
on  the  settle  before  the  fire,  sprang  to  his 
father's  side.  They  had  been  alone  together 
since  the  boy  had  come  in  from  the  stables,  for 
Mistress  Brewster  and  the  girls  had  gone  out 
to  pass  the  evening  with  friends,  and  William 
Brewster,  who  was  in  an  unusally  communi- 
cative mood,  had  talked  long  and  confidentially 
with  his  favorite  son.  He  had  told  him  the 
story  of  his  own  eventful  life,  for  the  floodgates 
of  memory  were  opened  by  Love's  question : 

"Father,  when  you  were  a  boy,  which  did 
you  love  most — out-of-door  sports,  like  Wres- 
tling, or  books,  like  me  ? " 


30  PATIENCE. 

The  father  drew  his  son  close  to  him,  as  they 
sat  on  the  hi o;h -backed  settle  and  watched  the 

O 

leaping  flame,  and,  stroking  his  fair  hair,  said 
affectionately :  "  I  think  I  was  like  you  both,  or 
rather  that  my  sons  have  inherited  two  differ- 
ent natures  which  I  recognize. in  myself;  but 
thy  nature,  Love,  is  my  better  one;  thy  tastes 
the  ones  I  can  approve  and  would  willingly 
foster.  I  was  born  in  this  dear  home,  and 
loved  to  fish  in  the  Idle,  and  roam  the  forest. 
I  loved  to  play  at  cricket,  and  to  ride  hard  and 
far,  as  Wrestling  does,  and  I  grew  up  strong  of 
frame  and  fit  to  endure  hardship  as  a  good 
soldier;  but  I  ever  loved  books,  too.  It  was 
my  dearest  ambition  to  go  to  Cambridge ;  and 
some  of  the  happiest  moments  of  my  life  have 
been  spent  in  the  university,  some  of  my  dear- 
est friendships  made  there." 

"  It  is  my  ambition,  too,  father,  and  Master 
Bradstreet  says  that  in  another  year  I  shall 
be  ready  to  enter.  Will  you  send  me, 
father?" 

Brewster's  expression  grew  grave.  "  I  can- 
not tell,  my  son,"  he  replied,  "  what  a  year  may 
bring  forth.  Yet  let  not  this  dampen  your 
efforts.  Study  as  though  all  were  settled,  and 
perchance,  when  the  time  conies,  God  will  show 
us  an  open  door." 


FIGURES  1ST  THE  BACKGROUND.     31 

"  What  did  you  do  after  you  left  the  univer- 
sity, father  ? " 

"I  had  studied  law,  had  come  home  with  my 
degree,  and  was  waiting  for  some  opening  for 
the  practice  of  my  profession,  when  a  chance, 
nay  a  providential,  meeting  with  that  high- 
minded  and  incorruptible  man,  the  noblest 
statesman  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
William  Davison,  changed  the  entire  current  of 
my  life.  Until  I  knew  Davison  I  had  never 
thought  of  life  outside  of  England,  of  mingling 
with  the  great  men  of  my  time, — the  men  who 
make  history, — still  less  of  taking  a  hand  at 
making  it  myself."  Brewster  looked  up  at  a 
piece  of  Flemish  tapestry  which  hung  above 
'the  carved  wainscot.  It  depicted  lords  and 
ladies  walking  on  a  balustraded  terrace,  while 
in  the  distance  armored  knights  were  scouring 
the  plain.  "  That  tapestry,"  he  said,  "  has  al- 
ways seemed  to  me  a  picture  of  those  stirring 
days  of  camp  and  court,  now  quite  in  the  back- 
ground. If  you  are  interested  I  would  like  to 
tell  you  of  the  scenes  through  which  I  have 
passed,  of  the  men  I  have  known,  and  especially 
of  Davison." 

"  Tell  me  about  him,  father." 

"  He  had  been  sent  to  the  Low  Countries,  as 
English  Resident  Agent  at  Antwerp,  to  watch 


32  PATIENCE. 

the  progress  of  the  war  with  Spain,  but  had 
been  recalled  by  the  queen  to  undertake  a  deli- 
cate diplomatic  mission  to  Scotland.  This  was 
nothing  less  than  to  prevent  King  James  from 
contracting  a  French  alliance.  He  was  on  his 
way  back,  having  been  successful  in  his  mis- 
sion, when  he  stopped  here  over  night.  I  re- 
member his  sitting  on  this  very  form  and 
telling  us  of  his  meeting  with  Fenelon,  who 
had  been  sent  by  the  French  king  to  arrange 
the  marriage.  In  spite  of  their  antagonistic 
position,  they  met  in  a  friendly  manner  and 
discussed  religious  matters.  I  was  keenly 
interested  in  this,  for  at  Cambridge,  in  our 
debating  club,  I  had  imbibed  very  radical  ideas, 
and  I  agreed  exactly  with  Davison,  who  was  a 
Separatist,  and  had  been  elder  of  the  Puritan 
Church  in  Antwerp.  My  heart  was  won,  and 
when  he  asked  me  if  I  would  go  back  to  the 
Netherlands  with  him  as  his  confidential  secre- 
tary I  was  delighted  beyond  bounds.  It  was, 
indeed,  a  wonderful  opportunity  for  a  young 
man.  Besides  the  novelty  of  travel  in  a  foreign 
land,  of  adventures  in  a  country  where  war  was 
in  progress, — naturally  fascinating  to  young 
blood, — I  had  the  privilege  of  being  schooled 
in  diplomacy  at  a  very  exciting  and  important 
time,  when  great  issues  were  at  stake,  not  only 


FIGURES  IF  THE  BACKGROUND.      33 

between  the  Netherlands  and  England,  but  in- 
volving all  Europe  as  well.  We  met  great  men 
of  Holland,  of  France,  and  of  Spain.  It  was  a 
game  of  skillful  fencing  between  us,  for  the 
battles  in  the  council  chamber  were  even  more 
important  than  those  in  the  field.  I  could  not 
have  had  a  better  teacher  than  Davison.  As- 
tute, daring,  quick  to  understand  and  to  act,  he 
trode  a  tortuous  way  with  the  strictest  integrity, 
and  taught  me  that  the  wisest  statesmanship  is 
compatible  with  perfect  honor.  Queen  Eliza- 
beth had  promised  the  Netherlander  four 
thousand  troops  to  serve  for  a  year,  with  the 
towns  of  Sluys  and  Ostend  as  security  that 
she  should  be  repaid.  Davison  did  much  on 
this  trip  to  England  to  induce  her  to  succor  the 
Dutch  more  vigorously,  and  the  queen  con- 
sented to  send  over  five  thousand  troops,  to  serve 
until  the  end  of  the  war,  if  Flushing  on  the 
Scheldt  and  Brill  on  the  Meuse  were  given 
her  in  addition  to  the  two  other  cities.  Prince 
Maurice,  who  had  succeeded  his  father,  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  owned  the  revenues  of  Flush- 
ing, but  his  mother,  the  daughter  of  Coligny, 
urged  him  to  the  sacrifice,  and  he  accepted 
Elizabeth's  terms.  Davison  was  appointed 
governor  of  Flushing,  and  here  we  resided  for 
the  next  year.  My  chief  intrusted  me  with  the 


34  PATIENCE. 

keys  of  the  hostage  cities,  and  I  slept  with  them 
every  night  under  my  pillow.  Hither  came  the 
English  troops,  with  the  Duke  of  Leicester  at 
their  head.  He  was  a  man  fond  of  magnifi- 
cence, of  inordinate  ambition,  but  not  to  be 
trusted.  His  face  had  grown  crafty  and  hard, 
and  had  lost  the  beauty  of  his  youth,  when,  it 
was  said,  the  queen  loved  him,  and  was  on 
the  point  of  marrying  him.  He  cared  more  for 
spending  money  on  his  personal  banquets  and 
display  than  for  the  comfort  of  his  soldiers,  and 
there  was  great  suffering  among  them.  I  saw 
Prince  Maurice  frequently, — an  able  general  and 
a  noble  young  man, — but  he  had  little  comfort 
from  his  English  allies,  for  Leicester  seemed  to 
have  no  stomach  for  fighting,  though  the  States- 
General,  to  stimulate  his  interest,  offered  him 
the  government  of  the  Low  Countries.  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  however,  burned  for  exploits  of 
valor,  and,  with  Prince  Maurice,  captured  Axel. 
Zutphen  was  held  by  Spaniards  under  Parma, 
and  Sidney  had  word  that  a  train  of  provisions 
was  on  its  way  to  the  city,  and,  with  five  hun- 
dred volunteers,  endeavored  to  cut  it  off;  but 
the  train  was  defended  by  four  thousand  Span- 
ish veterans,  and  it  was  in  this  action  that  Sid- 
ney received  his  death-wound.  That  was  a 
loss  to  the  world,  as  well  as  to  England.  Ho 


FIGURES  IN  THE  BACKGROUND.      35 

was  a  Christian  knight,  as  well  as  a  right  gal- 
lant gentleman,  and  the  best-loved  man  in 
England." 

Brewster  was  silent  for  a  moment,  but  Love 
recalled  him  from  his  reverie.  "And  what 
happened  next  ? "  he  asked. 

"  Leicester  accepted  the  position  of  Governor. 
It  was  too  great  a  prize  for  his  greed  and 
vanity  to  refuse,  though  the  Queen  had  espe- 
cially warned  him  not  to  do  this.  Perhaps  he 
thought  that  he  had  lost  his  influence  over  her 
in  any  case,  and  that  as  an  independent  prince 
he  could  dare  to  break  with  her,  or  perhaps 
he  counted  too  much  on  that  influence.  The 
Queen  was  very  angry.  She  had  carried  on 
her  negotiations  in  a  two-faced  way,  keeping 
up  a  correspondence  with  Philip  of  Spain, 
ready  if  it  seemed  politic  to  make  an  alliance 
with  him  and  betray  the  Dutch.  She  was  not 
to  have  her  plans  balked  by  Leicester,  whom 
she  rated  so  soundly  that  at  first  he  dared  not 
appear  before  her,  but  begged  Davison  to  go 
and  make  his  peace.  So  we  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  1586  ;  and  Leicester,  on  resigning  the 
honor  proffered,  was  apparently  received  again 
into  favor.  The  Queen  retained  Davison  at 
her  court  as  Secretary  of  the  Privy  Council,  a 
great  advance  in  his  fortunes.  He  was  con- 


36  PATIENCE. 

stantly  in  attendance  on  the  Queen,  conducting 
her  official  correspondence." 

"  You  mean  you  conducted  it,  father ;  for  if 
Mr.  Davison  was  the  Queen's  secretary,  you 
were  his,  so  you  really  wrote  the  Queen's  let- 
ters for  her,  did  you  not  ? " 

"  Only  the  manual  part,  my  son.  It  was 
Davison  who  had  the  task  of  making  the 
whims  of  that  selfish  and  double-faced  woman 
comport  with  honor  and  sound  policy." 

"  And  you  were  at  court  all  this  time, 
father,  and  knew  the  great  people,  and  dressed 
bravely,  did  you  not  ?  " 

"  I  never  cared  for  finery,  but  my  master  in- 
sisted that  it  was  for  his  credit  that  I  should 
go  handsomely  attired.  Because  I  had  no 
trinkets  of  my  own,  he  made  me  wear  his  great 
seal  ring  and  a  magnificent  gold  chain  which 
the  Government  of  the  Netherlands  had  given 
him  in  acknowledgment  of  his  services." 

"  I  have  heard  my  mother  say,"  said  Love, 
"  how  handsome  you  looked  when  she  first  saw 
you  as  you  were  walking  at  Mr.  Davison's  side 
by  the  Long  Water  at  Hampton  Court,  with 
that  chain  flowing  over  your  short  velvet 
cloak." 

"  That  was  but  foppery,"  said  William 
Brewster  gently.  "I  soon  found  out  that 


FIGURES  IN  THE  BACKGROUND.      37 

velvet  and  gold  may  cover  aching  and,  what  is 
far  worse,  wicked  hearts.  My  courtier  days 
soon  came  to  an  end. 

"  Davison  was  made  one  of  the  members  of 
the  commission  for  the  trial  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  and  Elizabeth  basely  endeavored  to 
transfer  to  him  the  odium  which  she  incurred 
for  ordering  the  execution  of  her  rival,  degrad- 
ing him  from  office  for  faithfully  carrying  out 
her  orders,  under  the  pretense  that  he  had  gone 
beyond  them,  and  causing  him  to  be  impris- 
oned in  the  Tower.  I  used  every  honorable 
means  for  his  release.  He  had  one  other  true 
friend,  the  hot-headed  but  warm-hearted  Earl 
of  Essex,  who  dared  to  remonstrate  with  the 
Queen,  and  after  two  years  the  Earl  obtained 
his  release.  Essex  attempted  still  more.  The 
office  of  Secretary  of  State  had  become  vacant, 
and  he  urged  the  Queen  to  bestow  it  upon 
Davison.  But  the  Lord  High  Treasurer,  the 
great  William  Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh,  wished  it 
for  his  son  Robert,  and  after  five  years  of  inde- 
cision Elizabeth  conferred  the  office  upon  that 
young  man.  If  he  had  more  closely  resembled 
the  great  statesman  his  father,  none  could  have 
reproached  the  Queen,  but  Robert  Cecil  has 
only  cunning  where  William  had  wisdom  ;  and 
whereas  the  great  Lord  Burleigh  recognized 


38  PATIENCE. 

honesty  as  the  best  policy,  the  little  lord  is  for 
policy  whether  honesty  be  a  part  of  it  or  no. 

"  So  there  was  my  dear  master  cast  off  after 
all  his  great  services,  and  left  with  broken  for- 
tunes in  his  declining  years  !  He  very  bravely 
set  to  practicing  law  in  London  ;  and  I  came 
back  to  this  dear  old  home,  to  take  up  my 
father's  duties,  to  comfort  my  mother  in  her 
widowhood,  which  came  soon  after,  and  to  find 
in  my  wife  and  my  children  such  solace  and 
happiness  as  court  life  cannot  bestow. 

"  It  seemed  to  me  at  first,  with  the  fall  of  my 
master,  that  niy  own  life  was  blighted,  but  it 
has  been  borne  in  upon  me  tbat  God  doth  not 
suffer  his  designs  to  be  frustrated,  and  that  he 
has  other  plans  for  me  and  mine  than  mere 
worldly  ambition.  I  have  had  remarkable 
opportunities,  a  schooling  in  law,  in  diplo- 
macy, in  government.  I  have  influential  friends 
in  high  places.  Why  have  these  advantages 
been  given  me  ?  Evidently  not  for  myself,  but 
for  the  service  of  God's  Church.  I  have  conse- 
crated all  that  I  have  and  am  to  the  protection 
of  this  great  flock  of  simple  and  helpless 
children  of  God — yea,  and  come  what  may  to 
me,  I  will  protect  them  to  the  uttermost ! " 

Love's  hand  stole  into  his  father's.  "And 
Wrestling  and  I  will  stand  by  you,  father,  even 


FIGURES  IN  THE  BACKGROUND.      39 

if  we  have  to  give  up  home  and  country  and  life 
itself.  Why  have  you  never  let  us  sign  our 
names  to  the  church  compact  ?  We  are  not  men, 
but  we  soon  will  be,  and  we  have  men's  hearts 
now.  Read  me  the  articles  of  pur  faith.  They 
are  the  same,  are  they  not,  as  those  of  the 
Established  Church,  save  that  government  lies 
in  the  church  itself,  and  obedience  is  not  recog- 
nized as  due  to  bishops  appointed  by  the  King  ? " 

"  Even  so,  my  son,  and  that  good  Archbishop 
Edwin  Sandys  acknowledged  to  me  that  there 
was  no  heresy  in  such  a  theory  of  government, 
and  that  our  faith  was  in  all  points  Christian, 
even  to  our  simpler  fashion  of  worshiping 
without  ritual  or  candles  upon  the  altar.  Here 
is  the  compact.  Listen  while  I  read  it  to  you." 

William  Brewster  opened  the  record  of  the 
Scrooby  Church,  and  it  was  at  this  moment  that 
he  discovered  that  the  page  containing  the 
names  of  the  members,  written  in  their  own 
hand,  had  been  torn  out. 

He  doubted  not  that  it  had  been  stolen  by 
the  stranger  whom  he  had  seen  at  his  desk.  If 
so,  written  evidence  was  now  in  the  hands  of 
Cecil  sufficient  to  hang  or  imprison  every  one 
whose  name  had  been  signed  to  this  confession 
of  faith.  He  felt  now  that  he  had  made  a  great 
mistake  in  asking  any  concession  from  the 


40  PATIENCE. 

King.  The  Puritan  divines  generally  had  met 
his  Majesty  at  the  Hampton  Court  Conference 
without  being  able  to  secure  toleration  ;  and  he 
realized  that  if  the  King  or  Cecil  had  given  him 
any  consideration  whatever  it  must  have  been  to 
connect  him  with  his  unfortunate  patron  Davi- 
son,  whom  James  would  remember  as  endeav- 
oring to  oppose  his  marriage,  and  Cecil  as  a 
rival  for  the  office  which  he  now  held.  Robert 
Cecil,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  was  not  the  man  to 
forget  or  forgive  a  grudge.  Essex  had  been 
his  early  friend,  the  suitor  of  his  sister,  but 
Essex  had  called  attention  to  his  crooked  back 
and  wry  neck,  and  had  dared  to  support  Davi- 
son ;  and  Cecil  coldly  pursued  him  to  his 
death.  Dwarfish  and  misshapen,  he  had  suf- 
fered many  affronts  on  account  of  his  mis- 
fortune. Queen  Elizabeth  called  him  her 
"  little  elf."  James  had  many  names  for  him  ; 
his  favorite  was  "  little  beagle,"  a  hunting  dog 
of  exquisite  scent  and  untiring  perseverance, 
sure  to  kill  the  hare  against  which  it  was 
set,  though  often  so  small  that  it  could  be  put 
in  a  man's  glove.  The  Earl  of  Salisbury  had 
compassed  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  sentence, 
though  in  doing  so  he  had  involved  also  Lord 
Cobham,  his  own  brother-in-law.  He  seemed 
without  natural  affection,  and  it  was  said  of 


FIGURES  IJST  THE  BACKGROUND.     41 

him  that  he  never  had  a  friend.  He  lived  his 
life  alone  ;  for  him  it  was  "  a  game  played  for 
high  stakes,  and  men  and  women  were  but 
pieces  to  be  whipped  off  the  board  with  every 
successful  move."  He  was  a  master  of  ruse. 
A  contemporary  writer  says  "  he  spent  infinite 
on  spyery" — that  is  to  say,  organized  a  wonder- 
ful detective  agency  for  his  own  private  in- 
formation. He  could  tell  at  any  moment  what 
ships  there  were  in  any  port  of  Spain,  their 
equipment  and  destination.  He  had  spies  at 
the  Papal  court,  and  agents  in  the  different 
European  capitals,  who  intercepted  letters  and 
copied  important  state  papers.  He  suborned 
false  brethren  among  the  Jesuits,  and  boasted 
that  he  kept  track  of  their  plots  from  their  in- 
ception. He  employed  experts  called  "  deci- 
pherers," who  were  in  reality  clever  forgers  of 
any  handwriting,  who  carried  on  feigned  cor- 
respondence, thus  leading  his  dupes  to  confide 
secrets  or  to  act  under  the  supposed  authori- 
zation of  prominent  men.  Sometimes  a  cor- 
respondence was  forgod  on  both  sides.  When- 
ever written  evidence  ngairist  those  whose  ruin 
he  desired  could  not  be  stolen  or  obtained  by 
torture,  it  was  forged.  Able,  unscrupulous, 
and  without  pity,  he  was  the  embodiment  of 
statecraft  unrestrained  by  conscience.  The 


42  PATIENCE. 

King  was  a  puppet  in  his  hands ;  Robert 
Cecil  was  the  Richelieu  of  England,  the 
power  behind  the  throne,  without  which  James 
could  not  have  reigned.  Cecil  had  corre- 
sponded with  Jarnes  while  he  was  King  of  Scot- 
land only ;  and  before  Elizabeth  had  named 
her  successor,  Cecil  had  promised  him  the 
throne  in  return  for  the  Premiership.  James 
had  compromised  himself  in  his  letters;  and  in 
spite  of  the  insults  with  which  he  ostenta- 
tiously loaded  Cecil,  he  knew  that  he  had  sold 
himself  to  him,  and  dared  not  carry  his  pleas- 
antries too  far.  James  was  an  arrant  coward, 
and  though  no  mean  scholar  was  inordinately 
conceited.  He  was  straitened  in  purse  when 
he  came  to  the  crown,  and  did  not  scruple  to  sell 
titles  to  increase  his  revenue.  He  sold  one 
hundred  patents  of  baronetcy  for  one  thousand 
pounds  each,  and  the  price  of  an  earldom  was 
currently  reported  at  ten  thousand  pounds. 
Elizabeth  had  created  only  seven  new  peers. 
James  added  forty-five  to  the  list.  He  made 
Cecil  Earl  of  Salisbury,  and  gave  him  the 
office  of  Lord  High  Treasurer,  a  position 
which  it  was  said  was  "worth  only  a  few 
thousand  pounds  to  him  who  would  go  to 
heaven,  twice  as  much  to  him  who  was  willing 
to  go  to  purgatory,  and  no  one  knows  how 


FIGURES  IN  THE  BACKGROUND.      43 

much  to  him  who  would  adventure  to  a  worse 
place."  But  Cecil  cared  for  power  more  than 
for  money,  and  he  did  not  rob  the  state  of  gold. 
To  take  human  life  when  innocent,  to  imprison 
for  life,  to  torture  physically  and  mentally,  to 
blacken  reputation,  all  this  was  daily  business 
for  which  he  had  no  twinges  of  conscience, 
while  he  was  proud  of  his  financial  honor.  Im- 
placable in  his  revenge  and  inordinate  in  his 
ambition,  he  forgave  no  one  who  dared  to  resist 
his  power. 

This  was  the  man  with  whom  William 
Brewster  had  to  do  ;  and  with  a  full  recognition 
of  the  character  and  resources  of  his  opponent, 
he  now  defied  him.  "  Do  thy  worst,  Cecil,"  he 
said  in  Love's  hearing.  "  Thou  art  neither 
more  wicked  nor  more  powerful  than  thy 
master,  Satan,  and  we  have  never  feared  him 
though  we  know  him  for  our  enemy." 

It  is  well  for  us  to  understand  not  only  the 
character  of  the  Puritans,  but  the  issues  for 
which  they  gave  up  every  hope  of  worldly  suc- 
cess and  even  life  itself. 

Were  they  merely  questions  of  church  gov- 
ernment, episcopacy  or  Congregationalism,  such 
as  Christians  now  differ  over  without  quar- 
reling, saying  affectionately,  uln  essentials, 
unity  ;  is  non-essentials,  liberty  "  ? 


44  PATIENCE. 

These  were  the  technical  points  in  dispute, 
but  underneath  were  principles  of  far  more 
vital  importance,  liberty  of  conscience  and 
political  liberty — the  latter  principle  not  for- 
mulated, hardly  dreamed  of  yet ;  but,  as  Cecil 
and  even  Jaines  saw,  sure  to  follow  from  that 
first  daring  proposition  the  right  of  opposition 
to  tyranny. 


CHAPTER  III. 


PATIENCE. 

"  O  for  the  white  plume  floating 

Sad  Zutphen's  field  above. 
The  lion  heart  in  battle, 
The  woman's  heart  in  love." 

the  morning  of  the 
same    day    on   which 
Love    and    Wrestling 
Brewster  had  returned 
from  their  lessons  through 
the  forest  and  had  met  the 
stranger,  Patience  had  also 
had  a   remarkable  experi- 
ence. 

She  was  sitting  in  the 
rustic  arbor,  at  the  gap  in 
the  wall  between  the  for- 
est and  the  garden  of  the  hunting  lodge  of 
the  Earl  of  Lincoln.  It  was  called  a  lodge, 
but  it  was  in  reality  a  roomy  brick  mansion, 
built  in  the  Elizabethan  style,  with  stables  at 
the  side,  a  paved  court  in  front,  and  a  garden  at 
the  rear. 

45 


46  PATIENCE. 

It  was  not  nearly  so  large  a  house  as  the  one 
leased  by  the  Brewsters,  but  it  was  more  com- 
fortably appointed,  though  it  was  occupied  by 
the  Earl  and  his  family  only  in  the  hunting 
season. 

The  Dudleys  had  a  pleasant  suite  of  rooms 
on  the  lower  floor,  facing  the  garden,  which 
was  laid  out  in  the  formal  fashion  called  a 
parterre  a  broderie,  like  a  gay  patchwork  quilt 
dropped  down  between  the  buildings  and  the 
forest,  its  flower-beds  of  vivid  color  divided  by 
long  green  lines  of  box  edging.  It  was  in  the 
arbor  that  Master  Simon  Bradstreet,  the  young 
student  who  had  been  spending  his  vacation  in 
the  vicinity,  gave  lessons  to  the  Dudley  chil- 
dren and  the  Brewster  boys.  Patience  loved  to 
read  here,  and  though  it  was  early  in  the  morn- 
ing and  Master  Bradstreet  could  not  be  expected 
for  over  an  hour,  she  had  settled  herself  to 
finish  a  book  of  poems  which  he  had  lent  her. 

She  had  learned  to  scan  Latin  verse,  and 
loved  the  rhythmical  flow  of  poetry ;  and  to  en- 
joy it  to  the  full,  she  was  reading  aloud.  Ab- 
sorbed in  the  cadence  and  in  the  matter  of  the 
poems,  Spenser's  Elegies  on  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
she  did  not  notice  the  light  footfall  of  a  lady, 
one  of  the  guests  of  the  hunting  party,  who  was 
pacing  restlessly  up  and  down  the  graveled. 


PATIENCE.  47 

walks  of  the  garden,  as  though  she  were  trying 
to  escape  from  her  own  thoughts.  The  lady 
was  past  middle  age,  but  remarkably  handsome, 
and  her  beauty  was  set  off  by  very  careful  and 
rich  dressing.  There  were  diamonds  at  her 
throat,  and  ropes  of  pearls  fell  over  her  stiff 
brocade  bodice.  She  bore  herself  with  the 
carriage  of  a  queen,  but  her  expression  was  not 
a  happy  one.  Noticing  at  last  that  the  arbor 
was  occupied,  she  approached,  and  as  she 
realized  that  the  girl  was  reading,  stole  along 
on  tiptoe  listening  to  the  poem. 
Patience  read  on: 

"  A  sweet  attractive  kind  of  grace, 

A  full  assurance  given  by  looks, 
Continual  comfort  in  a  face, 

The  lineaments  of  Gospel  books. — 
To  hear  him  speak  and  sweetly  smile 

You  were  in  Paradise  the  while. 

"  Stella,  a  nymph  within  this  wood, 
Most  rare  and  rich  of  heavenly  bliss, 

The  highest  in  his  fancy  stood 
And  she  could  well  demerit  this. 

Sweet  saints,  it  is  no  sin  nor  blame 
To  love  a  man  of  virtuous  name." 

Patience  started  at  this  point,  for  she  had 
distinctly  heard  a  sob.  Looking  up  quickly, 
she  saw  the  beautiful  woman  leaning  against 
one  of  the  posts  of  the  summer-house  and 


48  PATIENCE. 

staring  at  her  with  a  strange,  hungry  expres- 
sion. 

"  Child,  child  ! "  exclaimed  the  lady,  with  an- 
other convulsive  sob,  though  her  eyes  were 
dry ;  "  who  told  you  to  read  that  poeni  where 
I  would  hear  you  ? " 

"  No  one,  madam ;  I  thought  that  I  was  all 
alone." 

"True,  you  could  not  have  known  that  I 
would  come.  No  one  could  have  known.  You 
have  a  musical  voice,  to  which  it  is  pleasant  to 
listen.  Read  on,  if  there  is  anything  more 
about  Sidney  and  his  unhappy  Stella." 

Patience,  wondering,  read  at  a  venture : 

"  Her  he  did  love,  her  he  alone  did  honour; 
His  thoughts,  his  rimes,  his  songs  were  all  upon  her. 

"  To  her  he  vowed  the  service  of  his  days, 
On  her  he  spent  the  riches  of  his  wit. 
For  her  made  hymns  of  most  immortal  praise, 
Of  only  her  he  sang,  he  thought,  he  writ. 

"Knowledge  her  light  hath  lost,  Valor  hath   slain   her 

knight. 

Sidney  is  dead,  dead  is  my  friend,  dead  is  the  world's  de- 
light." 

Patience  ceased  reading,  but  the  lady  made 
no  comment.  She  was  weeping  silently. 

"  Did  you  know  him,  madam  ? ''  Patience 
asked.  The  lady  bowed.  "  Love's  father  knew 


SIR    PHILIP    SIDNEY. 


PATIENCE.  49 

him  too — he  was  his  hero,  and  he  is  never  tired 
of  telling  us  how  noble  he  was  at  Zutphen, 
when,  although  he  had  received  his  death- 
wound  and  was  in  an  agony  of  thirst,  he  would 
not  accept  the  water  brought  him,  but  handed 
it  to  a  man  more  terribly  wounded  than  him- 
self, saying,  'Thy  necessity  is  greater  than 
mine.' " 

"  Who  is  this  man,  that  knew  Sidney  ?  " 

"Mr.  Brewster,  who  dwells  at  the  Manor 
House.  He  was  with  him  when  he  died  in 
Holland." 

The  lady  rose.  "  I  must  see  this  Mr.  Brews- 
ter," she  said ;  "  and  I  thank  you,  child,  for 
your  reading.  Your  voice  has  a  magic  that  I 
wish  I  might  often  summon.  What  is  your 
name  ?  The  Earl  of  Lincoln  has  no  daughter 
of  your  age." 

"  Nay,  madam  ;  I  am  only  Patience,  daughter 
to  the  Earl's  steward,  Captain  Dudley." 

The  lady  sighed  and  walked  a  few  paces 
toward  the  house  ;  then  she  turned  impulsively, 
and  coming  back  placed  a  silvet  pouncet  box 
in  the  girl's  hand. 

"Is  this  for  me?"  Patience  asked  in  wonder. 

"  It  is ;  and  if  thou  wouldst  know  who  gives 
it  to  thee,  look  at  the  name  upon  the  lid." 

Patience  read  "  Stella." 


50  .       PATIENCE. 

"Art  thou  his  Stella?"  Patience  asked. 

"  His  and  thine.  To  the  world  I  ani  only 
Penelope,  Lady  Rich.  Only  you  and  a  few 
personal  friends  know  what  love  I  have  pos- 
sessed and  lost.  No,  I  never  really  lost  it. 
We  were  betrothed  when  hardly  more  than 
children.  He  always  called  me  Stella.  It  was 
his  fancy,  and  our  secret.  Then  my  parents' 
ambition  parted  us,  married  me  to  Lord  Rich  ; 
and  though  I  never  saw  Sidney  again,  I  saw  his 
poems.  They  were  published  and  brought  him 
fame,  and  they  were  all  addressed  to  Stella. 

"  I  am  a  lonely,  loveless  woman,  for  my  sons 
are  at  the  university  and  my  husband  in 
London.  Will  you  come  and  visit  me,  and  read 
to  me  when  I  am  restless,  and  old  memories 
and  physical  pain  chase  sleep  from  my  eyes  and 
make  night  agony  ?  In  return,  I  will  be  your 
friend.  It  shall  not  be  an  altogether  unequal 
compact.  I  will  remember  that  you  are  young ; 
and  you  shall  see  some  pleasant  days. 

"  The  Queen  and  the  princes  are  at  Kenil- 
worth,  where  they  will  remain  until  the  King 
goes  back  to  London;  and  there  we  are  to 
rehearse  the  masque  which  will  be  given 
at  Christmas  time  at  Whitehall.  Sir  Fulke 
Greville  has  been  making  great  additions  and 
restorations  at  Warwick  Castle  in  the  neighbor- 


PATIENCE.  51 

hood,  and  had  thrown  it  open  for  the  entertain- 
ment of  the  court.  You  shall  go  with  me. 
There  will  be  frolickings  and  junketings  and  a 
tilting  at  the  Earners  in  which  my  sons  take 
part." 

The  lady  had  spoken  so  rapidly  that  Pa- 
tience could  not  answer,  but  no  girl  of  her  age 
could  have  heard  of  such  pleasures  without 
coveting  them.  She  had  seen  the  gay  caval- 
cade as  it  swept  back  from  the  hunt,  and  one 
young  man  had  paused  at  the  gate  to  clasp  the 
hand  of  her  teacher,  Simon  Bradstreet.  They 
had  spoken  of  Cambridge  together,  and  then  he 
had  vanished  like  a  shining  vision. 

It  seemed  to  Patience  that  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
must  have  looked  so  when  he  dashed  forward 
to  Zutphen.  "  Who  is  he  ? "  she  gasped. 

"That  is  Robert  Lord  Rich,"  Bradstreet 
replied.  "  I  was  his  tutor  at  Emmanuel  Col- 
lege, Cambridge.  We  passed  many  pleasant 
but  unprofitable  hours  together." 

"  Why  were  they  unprofitable  ? "  Patience 
had  asked. 

"  I  could  never  persuade  him  to  study,"  Brad- 
street  replied ;  "  but  he  was  more  winsome  than 
I,  for  I  never  could  resist  him ;  and  he  took  me 
with  him  on  many  a  wild  escapade  and  foolish 
prank." 


52  PATIENCE. 

Patience  now  led  Lady  Rich  to  her  father, 
who  was  presently  won  over  by  their  united 
persuasions,  and  it  was  agreed  that  his  daughter 
should  accompany  her  new  friend  to  Warwick 
Castle.  Patience  flew  again  to  the  arbor, 
where  Master  Bradstreet  had  begun  to  hear  the 
boys'  lessons,  and  rapturously  announced  the 
news.  Wrestling's  face  clouded,  and  he 
savagely  kicked  the  bench  on  which  he  was 
sitting.  Love's  lips  quivered,  but  he  strove 
bravely  to  smile.  Both  were  too  much  moved 
to  speak.  "  You  seem  much  pleased  to  leave 
us,"  said  the  tutor. 

Patience  pouted.  "  If  you  like  me,  I  should 
think  you  would  be  glad  that  I  am  going  to 
have  a  nice  time.  I  am  going  to  see  the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  for  she  is  at  Keuil worth, 
near  Warwick  Castle,  and  there  are  to  be  beau- 
tiful tiltings  and  a  play  in  which  Lord  Robert 
will  act ;  and  you  would  rather  have  me  stay 
in  this  poky,  lonely  forest !  I  don't  call  that 
friendship." 

"  No,  Patience,  it  is  only  selfishness,"  Love 
replied  ;  "  and  we  are  really  very  glad  at  heart 
that  you  are  going  to  have  so  much  enjoyment. 
But  please  don't  forget  us  in  the  midst  of  it  all. 
When  will  you  come  back  ? " 

Wrestling  kicked  his  seat  again,  as  the  sul- 


PATIENCE.  53 

lenly  swung  his  legs.  "You  can  stay  as  long 
as  you  like,  for  all  me.  It  is  like  a  girl  to 
care  for  stupid  people  just  because  they  wear 
fine  clothes.  I  would  not  be  paid  to  sit  in 
their  drawing  rooms  and  smirk  and  bow.  You 
will  be  tired  of  your  bargain,  and  be  glad  to 
get  back  to  the  forest,  I'll  warrant." 

"  I  shall  come  back,"  Patience  replied  more 
thoughtfully.  "  I  do  love  the  forest,  with  all  its 
little  wild  creatures ;  but  you  know  we  would 
leave  the  lodge  soon,  in  any  case.  I  shall 
come  back  next  summer,  just  the  same  Patience. 
It  is  you  who  must  not  forget  me."  Wrestling 
turned  his  back  upon  her,  for  though  she  was 
speaking  as  kindly  as  he  could  have  wished,  it 
was  not  to  him,  but  to  his  brother. 

This  was  why  on  that  afternoon  he  had 
ridden  away  so  eagerly  with  the  stranger  and 
with  Philippa.  The  boy  was  in  a  desperate 
mood,  when  he  felt  the  need  of  some  wild 
adventure  to  take  him  out  of  himself.  The 
ride  had  proved  uneventful  and  disappointing. 
He  returned  the  next  day  as  silent  and  gloomy, 
and  for  the  first  time  treated  his  brother  with 
coolness. 

The  horse  belonging  to  the  stranger  had 
trotted  into  the  park  that  night ;  and  as  it  pro- 
voked considerable  wonder  and  conjecture  in 


54  PATIENCE. 

the  household,  Love  had  told  his  father  all  that 
he  knew  about  it.  William  Brewster  looked 
very  grave. 

"  You  should  have  told  me  this  before  we 
gave  the  man  harborage  and  helped  him  on  his 
way,"  he  said.  "I  fear  he  is  a  fugitive  from 
justice,  and  that  we  shall  hear  more  from  this 
matter." 

Love  repeated  the  girl's  assertion  that  they 
were  fugitives  for  conscience'  sake. 

"They  are  not  of  our  own  communion," 
replied  his  father.  "  I  liked  not  the  man's  looks 
or  his  conversation  over  much.  They  are 
doubtless  Papists.  I  will  hold  his  horse  for 
the  present,  until  I  know  what  I  should  do 
with  it.  It  is  strange  that  he  left  no  directions 
concerning  the  beast." 

Wrestling  on  being  questioned  was  close- 
mouthed,  and  afterward  finding  Love  alone 
reproached  him  for  having  betrayed  the  confi- 
dence of  their  guests. 

"  Well  we  knew  that  they  were  fugitives," 
he  said,  u  but  we  were  in  honor  bound  to  keep 
their  secret.  I  could  tell  you  more  of  them, 
but  I  dare  not,  for  I  see  that  you  are  not  to  be 
trusted." 

Love  was  deeply  grieved  by  his  brother's 
reproach,  and  the  more  because  he  could  not 


PATIENCE.  55 

decide  in  his  own  mind  just  which  way  his 
duty  had  lain. 

The  next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  and  it  held 
in  store  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Patience,  possi- 
bly for  the  last  time  for  many  months.  She 
would  come  with  her  father  to  the  Puritan 
meeting,  which  would  be  held  at  William 
Brewster's  house ;  and  both  boys  looked  forward 
to  the  occasion  with  eagerness.  The  lessons 
had  come  to  an  abrupt  close,  for  Simon  Brad-, 
street's  vacation  was  over,  and  he  was  going 
back  to  the  university  with  Lord  Rich.  Love 
had  ridden  over  on  the  stranger's  piebald  horse 
and  had  seen  Patience.  Her  first  glee  in  going 
had  evaporated,  and  there  were  tears  in  her 
eyes  as  she  thought  of  leaving  home. 

Though  by  far  the  majority  of  the  congrega- 
tion which  met  at  William  Brewster's  house  on 
the  Sabbath  were  poor  and  unlearned  people, 
occasionally  one  of  the  gentry  dropped  in, 
curious  to  know  what  the  doctrine  was  which 
was  creating  so  much  debate. 

The  sons  of  the  Archbishop  of  York  knew 
very  well  what  meetings  were  held  in  Wolsey's 
chapel,  but  Edwin  Sandys  while  in  exile  during 
the  persecutions  of  Bloody  Queen  Mary  had 
imbibed  Calvinistic  principles,  and  had  returned 
to  England  on  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth 


56  PATIENCE. 

a  Puritan  at  heart ;  and  his  sons  protected  the 
Puritans  publicly.  Especially  was  this  true  of 
the  son  that  bore  his  father's  name,  Sir  Edwin 
Sandys,  who  had  been  knighted  by  King  James 
on  his  accession,  and  was  now  a  member  of 
Parliament,  holding  a  leading  position  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  was  the  warm  per- 
sonal friend  of  William  Bre \vster ;  and  his  friend- 
ship was  to  count  still  more  for  the  Pilgrims  in 
their  darkest  hour. 

The  youngest  son  of  the  Archbishop,  George 
Sandys,  scholar  and  poet,  was  the  friend  of  the 
Earl  of  Lincoln,  and  sometimes  came  to  his 
hunting  lodge  to  read  his  translations  of  Ovid 
to  Dudley  and  Bradstreet.  He  would  fre- 
quently play  at  capping  verses  with  Patience, 
who  was  very  clever  at  rhyming.  He  was  not 
much  older  than  the  Brewster  boys,  and  he 
took  a  great  fancy  to  Love,  with  whom  he 
would  often  walk  home  across  the  forest ;  and 
more  than  once  he  listened  to  the  Puritan 
preachers,  curious  as  to  what  this  new  heresy 
might  be. 

It  was  curiosity  too  which  had  first  attracted 
Captain  Dudley,  who  was  a  scholarly  and 
thoughtful  man.  He  had  held  unfavorable  opin- 
ions of  the  Separatists,  as  these  Puritans  were 
sometimes  called,  until  he  had  heard  the  preach- 


PATIENCE.  57 

ino;  of  John  Robinson  at  Brewster's  house :  and  he 

O  ' 

used  to  like  to  tell  of  an  experience  which  he 
once  had  with  a  fanatical  member  of  the  sect. 
"  We  fell  in  with  one  another,"  he  told  William 
Brewster,  "  as  we  were  traveling  in  company, 
and  I  became  interested  in  his  views.  Putting 
up  for  the  night  at  an  inn,  we  shared  the  same 
bedchamber.  After  we  retired  my  comrade 
told  me  confidentially  that  he  had  often  believed 
himself  to  be  the  Lord  Christ,  and  he  was  cer- 
tain at  least  that  he  was  the  King  of  Jeru- 
salem, as  he  had  been  so  assured  by  a  direct 
communication  from  the  Almighty.  Where- 
upon I  immediately  rang  and  requested  to  be 
put  in  another  room,  for  I  had  no  warrant  but 
my  bedfellow,  being  on  such  intimate  terms 
with  the  Ruler  of  all  things,  might  receive  com- 
mand while  I  slept  to  have  me  executed  then 
and  there.  You  can  imagine,"  Captain  Dudley 
said  in  conclusion,  "  that  I  was  prepared  when 
I  came  here  to  listen  to  frantic  ideas,  but  I  can 
assure  you  that  in  no  other  sect  have  I  heard 
aught  so  reasonable."  He  came  regularly  after 
this,  and  brought  with  him  the  young  Cam- 
bridge student  Simon  Bradstreet. 

On  this  particular  Sunday  William  Brewster 
was  surprised,  on  the  entrance  of  Captain  Dud- 
ley and  his  family,  to  see  that  they  were  accom- 


58  PATIENCE. 

parried  by  a  lady  closely  veiled  and  by  a  richly 
dressed  young  courtier.  Brewster  advanced 
to  meet  them,  and  Dudley  introduced  Lady 
Penelope  Rich  and  her  son  Lord  Robert. 

"  I  am  a  student  of  Emmanuel  College,"  said 
the  latter.  "  I  heard  there  that  you  also  are  a 
a  university  man.  The  undergraduates  follow 
the  career  of  the  alumni  with  interest.  I  am 
eager  to  know  what  these  new  notions  may  be." 

Brewster  scanned  his  face  keenly.  "  If  you 
come  as  an  earnest  seeker  after  truth,"  he  said, 
"  I  bid  you  welcome.  If  your  errand  is  one  of 
malice  you  are  still  welcome,  for  what  we  most 
desire  is  that  our  enemies  should  give  us 
hearing." 

He  had  his  suspicions  in  regard  to  this 
young  man  in  velvet,  whose  levity  of  manner 
(throwing  kisses  to  some  pretty  Puritan  girls 
who  passed)  was  combined  with  a  hauteur 
which  disregarded  his  host's  extended  hand. 

The  young  nobleman  doffed  his  plumed  hat 
as  he  entered,  apparently  from  force  of  habit,  for 
he  grimaced  behind  it  in  a  boyish  fashion,  even 
after  the  service  began.  But  he  did  not  deserve 
William  Brewster's  suspicions,  for  though  at  this 
period  Robert  Rich  was  light-headed  and  jovial, 
there  was  no  harm  beyond  that  of  youthful 
thoughtlessness  in  his  mirth ;  and  the  volatile 


PATIENCE.  59 

young  man  became  in  later  years  the  able  Earl  of 
Warwick  and  a  protector  of  the  Puritans.  He 
sat  now  making  eyes  at  pretty  Patience  Dud- 
ley, who  had  taken  in  every  detail  of  his  rich 
cavalier's  costume,  from  the  lace  frills  to  the 
diamond  buttons  and  the  silk  stockings,  with 
undisguised  wonder  and  admiration. 

Patience  felt  the  amusement  and  mock  gal- 
lantry with  which  he  returned  the  gaze,  and 
her  mouth  quivered  with  mortification  even 
while  her  face  flamed.  Lord  Rich  noticed  the 
quivering  of  the  pretty  lips  as  her  smile  flickered 
out  and  hot  tears  of  indignation  stole  from  un- 
der her  downcast  lashes ;  and  he  jogged  his  com- 
panion's elbow  and  whispered  :  "  Did  you  mark 
that  flutter  of  color  on  yon  pretty  face  ?  By 
my  faith !  Sir  Philip  Sidney  must  have  had 
such  a  play  in  mind  when  he  wrote,  'Her 
cheeks,  blushing  and  a  little  smiling,  were  like 
roses  when  their  leaves  are  with  a  little  breath 
stirred.' " 

"  Stare  not  so  earnestly,"  replied  Bradstreet, 
"  for  the  maid  is  smiling  not  at  all ;  and,  trust 
me,  she  is  not  pleased,  but  offended,  by  your 
close  scrutiny." 

Lord  Rich  turned  away  with  an  effort,  and 
fixed  his  attention  on  the  preacher,  in  whose 
appearance  he  was  distinctly  disappointed. 


60  PATIENCE. 

Like  Captain  Dudley,  Lord  Rich  had  had  his 
preconceived  notions  of  Puritanism,  which,  in 
the  mind  of  the  young  courtier,  was  only  a 
stricter  and  more  fanatical  Presbyterianism  gro- 
tesquely caricatured  by  ignorant  or  hypocritical 
boors.  He  had  heard  something  of  the  preach- 
ing of  John  Knox  from  those  who  had  heard 
his  powerful  utterances  before  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation,  and  in  his  later  years,  when  an 
eyewitness  reported  that  "  he  was  so  weak  that 
he  behoved  to  lean  upon  the  pulpit  at  his  first 
entry,  but  ere  he  was  done  with  his  sermon  he 
was  so  active  and  vigorous  that  he  was  tyke  to 
ding  the  pulpit  in  llads  and  flie  out  of  it" 

Lord  Rich  had  come  with  the  expectation  of 
being  amused  by  a  ranting,  fanatic  preaching 
in  a  barn  to  a  company  of  clowns.  Instead  of 
this,  he  found  himself  in  a  small  but  finely  pro- 
portioned chapel,  vaulted  and  carved  with  rev- 
erent care  by  the  great  cardinal,  who  believed 
that  Art  should  be  the  handmaid  of  Religion. 
A  double  altar,  or  "  superalles,"  of  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII.  was  pinnacled  and  niched  for  the 
figures  'of  saints  and  apostles,  but  these  had 
been  removed  as  idolatrous.  The  inventory 
taken  by  Cromwell's  officers  gives  us,  among 
the  appointments  of  this  chapel  remaining  dur- 
ing the  Commonwealth,  not  only  one  organ,  but 


PATIENCE.  ei 

a  pair  of  them,  and  a  fine  clock  "  without  plo- 
mettes  "  (hanging  weights).  This  the  children 
of  the  Separatists  must  have  watched  anxiously 
when  the  pastor,  as  was  sometimes  his  wont, 
"  spente  a  good  part  of  ye  day  with  great  f  er- 
vencie  in  his  exhortation."  The  "  lectionary," 
or  book  of  selections  from  the  Scriptures,  which 
Wolsey  had  used,  Brewster  had  removed  to 
his  library,  and  had  replaced  by  a  Genevan 
Bible.* 

These  were  the  surroundings  in  which  Lord 
Rich  found  himself.  The  young  preacher  with 
the  refined  face,  prepossessing  manner,  and  cul- 
tivated delivery  exasperated  him,  and  he  re- 
signed himself  grudgingly  to  be  bored. 

Little  by  little,  to  his  surprise,  he  found 
himself  interested.  The  original  organizers  of 
the  Puritan  Church  in  this  section  were  not 
ignorant  men,  but  young  Cambridge  graduates, 
prominent  among  whom  were  Richard  Clyfton, 

*  So  called  because  it  had  been  translated  by  English  divines 
who  had  fled  to  Geneva  during  the  persecutions  of  Bloody  Mary. 
This  was  the  edition  favored  by  Puritans,  while  the  Bishops' 
Bible,  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury in  1568,  was  regarded  by  them  with  almost  as  much  disfavor 
as  the  Bible  of  the  Roman  Catholics  printed  at  Douay,  though 
there  was  very  little  difference  in  their  text.  At  this  very  time 
fifty-four  scholars  were  at  work  upon  the  version  commonly  called 
King  James'  Bible,  which  was  so  superior  to  all  former  transla- 
tions that  it  has  ever  since  remained  the  standard. 


62  PATIENCE. 

William  Brewster,  John  Smyth,  and  John  Rob- 
inson— and  Robinson  was  most  gifted  of  them 
all.  He  was  William  Brewster's  dearest  friend ; 
a  gentle,  lovable  man,  who  hated  schism,  and 
would  personally  far  rather  have  suffered  wrong 
than  have  resisted,  but  who  became  convinced 
that  the  concessions  demanded  by  the  govern- 
ment could  not  be  granted  with  a  clean 
conscience. 

The  Earl  of  Morton  said  of  John  Knox 
when  they  laid  him  in  his  grave,  "  He  never 
feared  the  face  of  man."  John  Robinson 
resembled  the  great  reformer  in  at  least  one 
characteristic.  He  was  utterly  fearless.  Very 
quietly,  and  in  such  simple  terms  as  his 
unlearned  audience  could  understand,  he  ex- 
plained the  principles  at  stake.  Robert  Rich 
had  discussed  the  same  questions  among 
kindred  spirits  at  Emmanuel  College,  but 
from  a  political  point  of  view — questions  of 
personal  liberty  and  royal  authority.  Very 
ably  Robinson  proved  that  both  must  be  pre- 
served, and  both  subordinated  to  Law.  The 
King's  authority  could  not  be  held  above  Law, 
but  Law  must  be  above  the  King,  and  Liberty 
too  must  not  be  lawless,  but  must  bow  to  that 
ultimate  authority,  and  to  the  King  so  long  as 
he  was  its  true  exponent.  If  the  King  usurped 


PATIENCE.  63 

the  prerogative  of  Law,  and,  contrary  to  its 
dictates,  tyrannized  over  the  liberties  of  his 
subjects,  it  was  their  duty  to  obey  the  Law  and 
renounce  the  King.  Peaceable  self-banishment 
was  his  solution  of  the  problem  with  which 
they  were  confronted.  He  had  become  con- 
vinced of  the  futility  of  hope  for  better  things 
in  England,  and  he  counseled  emigration  to 
some  country  permitting  toleration  in  religion. 

So  far  he  had  spoken  calmly,  as  though 
reasoning  the  matter  as  man  with  man  from  a 
worldly  standpoint,  but  now  he  mounted  the 
pulpit  and  announced  his  text.  "  If  they  per- 
secute you  in  one  city  flee  ye  into  another." 
He  carried  his  audience  with  him,  rising  to 
impassioned  eloquence,  and  closed  his  discourse 
with  the  words  of  Christ  (Mark  x.  29-31): 
"There  is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or 
brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or 
wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my  sake,  and  the 
gospel's.  But  he  shall  receive  an  hundredfold 
now  in  this  time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and 
sisters,  and  mothers,  and  children,  and  lands, 
with  persecutions ;  and  in  the  world  to  come, 
eternal  life." 

The  congregation  were  passing  quietly  out, 
but  Captain  Dudley  made  his  way  to  the 
minister  and  shook  him  warmly  by  the  hand. 


64  PATIENCE, 

"  You  are  right,"  he  cried,  "  and  I  admire  both 
your  principles  and  your  common  sense." 

"  Common  sense  above  all  things,"  said  Lord 
Rich,  who  had  followed  Dudley  and  had  for 
the  moment  quite  forgotten  the  pretty  face 
that  had  caught  his  fancy.  "  I  fear  I  still  do 
not  understand  your  grievance,  but  you  are 
the  right  stuff  to  make  good  settlers  in  a  new 
country,  where  there  are,  as  you  have  so  well 
said,  a  hundredfold  more  lands  for  houses  than 
in  this  crowded  kingdom.  I  doubt  not  but 

O 

that  you  would  find  good  return  for  your 
investment.  I  would  like  to  head  a  colony  of 
you  myself.  I  am  going  down  to  London  to- 
morrow, and  I  will  see  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in 
the  Tower,  and  ascertain  what  hope  he  has  of 
deliverance,  and  whether  he  thinks  of  making 
another  expedition  in  search  of  El  Dorado." 

"  Oh, "  cried  Wrestling,  "  take  me  with  you  : 
I  care  not  how !  I  will  be  your  servant  and 
will  do  whatever  you  bid  me,  only  let  me  see 
Sir  Walter!" 

"  Wrestling,"  said  his  father  sternly,  "  hast 
thou  forgotten  my  authority  ?  Have  I  no 
voice  in  thy  goings  and  comings  ? " 

"Nay,  but  father,  suffer  me  to  go.  If  thou 
knewest  how  Sir  Walter  has  been  my  hero 
since  I  knew  enough  to  understand  the  tales 


PATIENCE.  65 

thou  hast  told  me  of  his  brave  adventures  ! 
How  I  have  acted  them  over  in  Sherwood 
Forest!  If  I  could  feel  but  once  his  hand 
upon  my  head,  something  of  his  great  spirit 
would  pass  into  mine,  and  teach  me  to  be 
courageous  and  to  endure ! " 

William  Brewster  looked  at  his  son  in  sur- 
prise, for  he  had  never  seen  him  so  moved  or 
heard  him  speak  like  this.  "  Is  it  so,  Wres- 
tling?" he  asked,  "  I  did  not  know  that  it  was 
in  thee  to  love  anyone  with  such  a  passion  of 
admiration." 

"It  is  so,  father,"  Love  replied,  for  his 
brother  now  hung  his  head,  abashed  by  his 
own  vehemence.  "When  Wrestling  loves  it 
is  always  with  his  whole  soul,  and  all  our 
play  since  our  youngest  childhood  has  been  to 
furnish  forth  ships  and  sail  away  with  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh.  We  have  made  colonies  in 
the  forest,  where  we  have  traded  for  squirrel 
skins  and  mined  for  gold,  slept  under  the  open 
and  starved  in  caves,  and  have  been  slain  by  the 
savasres  and  buried  each  other  under  the  leaves, 

o  • 

and  always  Wrestling  was  Sir  Walter — or  was 
rescued  by  him.  I  pray  you,  if  this  noble 
gentleman  will  suffer  my  brother  to  go  with 
him,  forbid  him  not,  for  I  will  do  his  tasks  in 
his  absence." 


66  PATIENCE. 

Lord  Rich  looked  at  his  companion  ques- 
tioningly.  "  How  is  it,  Bradstreet,"  he  asked  ; 
"can  we  take  this  boy  with  us?  I  would  like 
to  pleasure  him  if  he  has  such  a  mighty  desire 
to  see  the  great  explorer." 

"It  is  easy  enough,  my  lord,"  replied  the 
other.  "  We  can  even  take  him  to  Cambridge 
with  us,  after  your  visit  to  London,  if  your 
lordship  would  like  him  for  a  page." 

"That  will  I  not  consent  to,"  interrupted 
William  Brewster;  "and  I  must  hear  more  of 
you,  sir,  before  I  permit  my  son  to  bear  you 
company  even  to  London." 

"As  you  please,"  Lord  Rich  replied  non- 
chalantly. "Captain  Dudley  here  can  inform 
you  more  particularly  as  to  what  manner  of 
man  I  am,  and  if  you  want  further  testimony 
I  refer  you  to  my  host  the  Earl  of  Lincoln. 
I  shall  stop  here  to-morrow,  and  if  you  are 
willing  that  the  lad  should  go  with  me  for 
a  fortnight,  and  will  furnish  him  forth  with 
a  horse  he  may  come  with  me,  and  I  suppose 
can  return  with  the  post.  If  you  consent  not, 
there  is  no  harm  done ;  and  so  farewell,  uiy 
little  fellow ;  thou  shalt  see  thy  hero  if  I  can 
compass  it." 

He  sauntered  out,  quickening  his  footsteps 
as  he  realized  that  he  had  lost  sight  of  the 


PATIENCE.  67 

pretty  Puritan,  and  fancied  that  he  might  find 
her  in  the  grounds  outside. 

Lady  Rich,  who  had  not  hitherto  spoken, 
but  had  watched  the  scene  with  an  amused 
interest,  threw  her  veil  back  from  her  beauti- 
ful face,  which  no  man  could  resist,  and  said 
sweetly :  "  My  son  is  as  impulsive  as  his  mother, 
but  he  is  a  good-hearted  youth,  Mr.  Brewster, 
and  not  addicted  to  the  vices  of  the  day,  as 
Mr.  Bradstreet,  who  knows  him  well,  can 
assure  you.  I  would  have  a  word  apart  with 
you  touching  one  who  was  dear  to  me  whom 
you  knew  in  the  Low  Countries,"  and  she 
walked  with  Brewster  to  a  window  recess, 
where  they  continued  their  conversation  in  a 
low  tone,  Wrestling  hovering  most  impatiently 
at  a  distance. 

"  I  knew  your  brother,  the  noble  Earl  of  Es- 
sex, well,"  said  Brewster.  "  He  too  was  a  man 
of  most  kindly  impulses.  He  endangered  his 
own  favor  with  the  Queen  in  pleading  the  cause 
of  my  friend  and  patron,  Mr.  William  Davi- 


son." 


"  But  you  knew  him  in  happier  days,  when 
he  was  in  Holland  with  the  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter, did  you  not  ? " 

"Most  intimately  then,  for  Leicester  and 
Sidney  and  he  made  Davison's  house  their 


68  PATIENCE. 

headquarters ;  and  their  councils  were  not  all 
of  war  or  statecraft,  but  poesie  had  its  share, 
and  history  and  travel,  and  they  found  time  to 
write  as  well  as  to  talk  in  company.  Here  is 
a  book  which  I  took  down  at  their  dictation, 
and  which  your  brother  gave  me  after  he 
caused  it  to  be  published." 

William  Brewster  took  from  a  shelf  and  laid 
in  her  hand  a  small  volume,  opening  it  to  the 
title-page,  which  read : 

"Three  Months  Observations  of  the  Low 
Countries — with  Profitable  Instructions  describ- 
ing what  Observations  are  to  be  taken  by 
Travellers. 

"  By  Robert  Earl  of  Essex,  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
and  Secretary  Davison." 

Lady  Rich  stared  fixedly  at  the  page,  but 
she  saw  only  one  name;  the  other  words  swam 
all  together. 

"  You  were  with  him  while  he  lay  dying  ? " 
she  asked,  pointing  to  the  name  of  Sidney. 

"All  that  long  month  of  agony,"  Brewster 
replied,  "  and  it  was  the  cheerfulest  deathbed 
I  have  ever  seen.  He  was  the  truest  model  of 
a  Christian  gentleman  the  world  has  known. 
Ha  was  the  only  one  amongst  us  who  could 
smile.  He  told  me  that  his  father  taught  him 
to  begin  the  day  by  praying  earnestly,  and 


PATIENCE.  69 

then  to  throw  himself  as  earnestly  into  merri- 
ment. He  was  merry  even  when  he  knew 
what  the  end  must  be,  with  a  sweet  merriment 
to  keep  our  hearts  up.  At  the  last,  when  he  was 
past  speech,  his  chaplain  asked  him  if  he  was 
able  to  raise  his  hand  to  do  so  if  he  still  had 
joy  in  the  Lord.  With  that  he  lifted  not  one 
hand,  but  waved  both  triumphantly  and  gayly 
high  in  the  air,  from  whence  they  sank  back 
and  fell  joined  upon  his  heart,  in  the  attitude 
of  the  carved  effigies  on  the  tombs  of  knights, 
and  so  remained  clasped  as  in  prayer ;  and  look- 
ing in  his  face  we  saw  that  with  that  joyful 
testimony  his  soul  had  taken  flight." 

Lady  Rich  was  silent  for  a  moment,  then,  ex- 
tending her  hand,  said :  "  With  such  a  friend  in 

^j  * 

common,  we  are  not  strangers.  Suffer  your  son 
to  go  with  mine ;  it  may  prove  for  his  advance- 
ment in  life." 

Brewster  shook  his  head.  "  I  have  given 
over  all  worldly  ambition  for  my  sons,"  he  said 
sadly;  "  but  I  knew  not  that  Wrestling  had  such 
a  desire  to  see  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  I  too  admired 
him,  when  under  our  late  Queen  he  spake  so 
boldly  in  Parliament  against  religious  persecu- 
tion. If  only  his  great  deeds  had  been  under- 
taken and  his  trials  endured  for  conscience'  sake 
instead  of  in  the  hope  of  glory,  no  nobler  charac- 


70  PATIENCE. 

ter  could  be  found  on  the  roll  of  martyrs.  I  saw 
him  endure  his  trial,  wherein  he  plead  his  own 
cause  with  dignity  and  was  condemned  contrary 
to  all  justice;  and  the  memory  of  his  high 
presence  has  been  an  inspiration  to  me.  My 
son  shall  have  that  inspiration  too ;  he  will 
need  it  in  the  days  that  are  before  us.  Tell 
Lord  Rich  that  I  accept  his  oft'er  with  grati- 
tude ;  it  may  be  the  last  pleasuring  that  the  boy 
will  ever  have." 

As  soon  as  Wrestling  understood  that  his 
point  was  gained,  he  hurried  out  of  the  house 
followed  by  Love.  "  I  owe  it  all  to  thee,"  he 
said  impetuously  as  they  went  down  the  steps 
together.  "Father  would  never  have  given 
his  consent  if  thou  hadst  not  spoken  for  me ; 
and  thou  saidst  not  that  Sir  Walter  was  thy 
hero  too,  and  that  thou  wouldst  have  liked  as 
well  to  go  as  I." 

"  Lord  Rich  did  not  ask  me,  and  our  father 
could  surely  not  have  spared  us  both.  Thou 
wilt  tell  me  all  about  it,  and  I  shall  enjoy  it 
through  thee." 

"  Thou  art  aright  good  fellow, Love, and  I  take 
back  what  I  said  about  thy  tattling.  Philippa 
told  me  where  she  dwells  in  London,  not  that 
I  might  find  her  or  write  to  her,  but  that  thou 
mightest  do  so.  It  is  thee  she  likes,  not  me ; 


PATIENCE.  71 

but  I  was  angry  and  would  not  pleasure  tbee 
by  telling  thee  so.  Not  that  I  care  for  the 
baggage ;  thou  canst  have  her,  and  I  will  have 
Patience ;  and  I  will  take  Philippa  any  message 
from  thee,  for  I  shall  have  to  return  her  father's 
horse. 

"  The  father's  name  is  not  Johnson,  but  Mr. 
Guido  Fawkes,  and  they  are  visiting  at  Mr. 
Percy's  house,  next  to  the  House  of  Parliament, 
though  Philippa  told  me  that  they  were  soon 
to  leave  London.  Ah  !  there  is  Lord  Rich 
talking  to  Patience.  We  will  tell  them  that 
my  father  has  consented,  and  that  I  shall  be 
ready  to  go  with  them  on  the  morrow." 

Love  would  have  stayed  his  brother  to  ex- 
plain that  he  had  not  consented  to  the  barter  of 
his  share  of  Patience  for  Philippa,  but  Wres- 
tling bounded  away  and  announced  his  good 
fortune. 

"  And  is  Love  coming  too  ?  "  Patience  asked. 

"  Nay,"  replied  Lord  Rich,  "  I  cannot  lead 
forth  all  the  country-side ;  besides  we  bear  you 
company  but  one  day's  journey,  when  our  paths 
divide.  My  mother  and  her  people  pass  to  War- 
wick, while  Master  Bradstreet,  this  youth,  and 
I  go  on  to  London,  and  after  that  to  Cam- 
bridge." 

It  may  be  that  Lord  Rich  expected  to  see 


72  PATIENCE. 

some  regret  in  Patience's  face  that  she  was 
so  soon  to  lose  his  society ;  if  so,  he  was  disap- 
pointed. Captain  Dudley  approached,  and  she 
joined  her  father,  waving  her  hand  to  her  two 
old  friends,  "Till  to-morrow,  Wrestling  ;  good- 
by,  Love  " ;  and  each  of  the  boys  accepted  her 
smile  as  particularly  his  own. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE    PRIESTS    HOLE. 

The  time  is  come,  Exsurge  Domine! 
Jadica  causam  tuam  !    Let  thy  foes 
Be  driven  as  the  smoke  before  the  wind 
And  melt  like  wax  upon  the  furnace  lip. 

— GEORGE  ELIOT. 

HILE  the  King  was 
hunting     in      the 
north  of  England, 
the  Queen  and  the 
royal  family  were 
making  a  short  stay  at 
Kenilworth,  which  was 
at  this  time  one  of  the 
royal     residences,     for 
Elizabeth      had    taken 
back  her  royal  gift  to 
Leicester,   and    it    had 
not  yet  been  destroyed  by  Cromwell.     Some  of 
the  court  ladies  were  with  the  Queen,  while 
others,  and  among  them  Lady  Rich,  were  en- 
tertained at  Warwick  by  Sir  Fulke  Greville. 
Patience  found  Warwick  Castle  even  more 
78 


74  PATIENCE. 

beautiful  than  she  had  dreamed ;  and  very 
nearly  as  Patience  Dudley  saw  it  the  traveler 
sees  it  to-day,  for  it  is  one  of  the  best  pre- 
served of  feudal  castles.  On  one  side  it  is  mir- 
rored in  the  lovely  river  over  which  the  stone 
bridge  leaps  in  one  great  span  of  one  hundred 
feet ;  but  the  entrance,  guarded  by  the  ancient 
towers,  is  even  more  impressive.  Caesar's  Tower, 
though  not  quite  so  old  as  its  name  suggests,  is 
a  venerable  giant,  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  tall,  with  walls  of  enormous  thickness. 
Guy's  Tower,  not  quite  so  high,  is  named  for  a 
possibly  mythical  personage,  Guy  of  Warwick, 
who  renounced  his  possessions  and  lived  as  a 
hermit  long,  long  ago  when  noblemen  were 
really  noble.  The  residential  part  of  the  castle 
is  a  magnificent  suite  of  apartments  opening 
one  into  another  in  a  vista  of  over  three  hun- 
dred feet.  Patience  learned  to  know  them 
very  well,  and  to  tell  the  names  of  the  men  who 
had  worn  the  suits  of  armor  with  which  they 
were  hung,  and  those  of  the  pretty  women  who 
looked  down  from  the  portraits.  The  wonder- 
ful Vandycks  were  not  there,  for  they  were 
painted  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  but  there 
were  enough  pictures  to  people  the  stately 
halls,  so  that  Patience  was  never  lonely  as  she 
wandered  through  them. 


THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  15 

Sir  Fulke  Greville  was  a  hospitable  host. 
He  had  just  spent  a  sum  equivalent  to  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  remodeling  and 
furnishing  the  castle,  and  it  was  his  delight 
to  fill  its  splendid  rooms  with  distinguished 
guests.  He  was  an  amateur  poet,  but  more 
noted  as  a  patron  of  poets.  Ben  Jonson  was 
visiting  him  at  this  time,  and  he  loved  to  be 
regarded  as  the  discoverer  of  young  genius. 
His  greatest  honor  during  life,  in  his  own 
estimation,  was  Sidney's  friendship.  On  his 
ponderous  tomb  in  St.  Mary's  Church  in  War- 
wick may  still  be  read  the  epitaph  written  by 
his  own  hand :  "  Fulke  Greville,  servant  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  Conceller  to  King  James  and 
f  rend  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney." 

This  friendship  was  the  principal  link  be- 
tween Lady  Rich  and  himself.  Sidney  be- 
queathed his  library  to  Greville,  and  these 
books  he  placed  at  the  disposition  of  his  fair 
guest.  Patience  found  Lady  Rich  a  difficult 
patroness.  She  was  an  unhappy  woman,  de- 
manding constant  excitement  or  occupation  to 
keep  herself  from  thinking.  The  day  was  a 
round  of  visiting  or  receiving  visits,  in  which, 
fortunately  for  her  health,  Patience  was  not 
often  expected  to  take  part.  The  house  was 
filled  with  company.  If  the  weather  were  fine, 


76  PATIENCE. 

the  gentlemen  hunted  with  such  of  the  ladies 
as  cared  for  the  sport,  or  played  tennis  in  the 
great  courts.  In  the  evening  they  practiced  the 
dances  for  the  masque,  and  the  court  ladies 
drove  frequently  to  Kenilworth  to  wait  upon 
the  Queen.  At  night  it  was  Patience's  task  to 
read  to  her  ladyship  until  she  fell  asleep,  after 
which  Patience  would  extinguish  the  taper  and 
slip  noiselessly  to  her  own  little  bed  in  the 
adjoining  chamber,  frequently  only  to  be  al- 
most immediately  awakened  by  the  sudden 
ringing  of  a  bell,  which  told  her  that  she  was 
again  needed. 

The  play  in  which  Lady  Rich  was  to  take 
part  had  been  specially  written  for  her,  and 
for  several  other  prominent  ladies  of  the  court, 
by  Ben  Jonson.  It  was  to  be  presented  at  the 
Christmas  festivities  at  the  palace  of  Whitehall 
in  London,  when  it  would  be  brought  out  far 
more  magnificently  with  scenery  which  was 
being  designed  by  the  architect  Inigo  Jones. 
Ben  Jonson  had,  however,  taken  this  oppor- 
tunity to  rehearse  it  before  a  more  limited 
audience  at  the  tilting  which  was  to  be  given 
as  a  farewell  entertainment  at  Kenilworth, 
before  the  royal  family  went  down  to  Lon- 
don. 

The  tilting  would  take  place  in  the  open  air 


THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  11 

in  the  afternoon,  after  which  a  dinner  would 
follow,  and  then  the  masque  in  the  great  hall 
of  the  castle,  which  was  eighty-six  feet  long  and 
forty-five  wide. 

These  masques  were  a  combination  of  stately 
dances  with  recitations  and  acting,  and  were 
usually  performed  by  amateurs,  though  as  they 
became  more  elaborate  comical  ante-masques 
introduced  the  main  entertainment,  and  these 
were  performed  by  professional  actors.  Jonson, 
like  Shakespeare,  had  been  influenced  by  the 
spirit  of  adventure  so  prevalent  at-  this  time, 
and  the  plots  of  several  of  his  plays  turned 
upon  the  discovery  of  new  lands.  The  play 
which  was  now  in  rehearsal  was  called  the 
Masque  of  Blackness,  the  actresses  representing 
nymphs  of  the  rivers  of  Africa.  As  such  they 
wore  sable  robes,  their  pretty  arms  and  faces 
covered  by  long  black  gloves  and  dominoes,  and 
they  were  to  be  drawn  into  the  hall  in  an  in- 
geniously constructed  shell. 

The  plot  was  very  slight.  Oceanus  would 
announce  in  a  prologue  that  these  swarthy 
ladies  had  been  told  that  in  a  kingdom  whose 
name  ended  in  the  word  Tania  was  a  luminary 
whose  beams  were 

"of  such  a  force 
To  blanch  an  Ethiop  or  revive  a  corse." 


78  PATIENCE. 

The  nymphs,  tired  of  their  jetty  skins,  had 
sought  this  kingdom  wandering  through  Mau- 
ritania, Lusitania,  etc.,  and  had  now  come  to 
Britannia. 

The  shell  now  appeared,  imitating  in  its  un- 
dulations the  motion  of  a  ship  upon  the  sea. 
The  nymphs  descended,  danced  their  coronatos, 
and  then  kneeling  before  the  Queen  declared 
that  they  had  found  the  all-powerful  luminary, 
and,  throwing  off  their  masks  and  black  outer 
robes,  performed  other  dances  in  their  more 
brilliant  court  costumes,  with  their  beautiful 
faces  undisguised. 

Jonson  had  also  written  a  prologue  for  the 
tilting  in  which  Lord  Rich  was  to  take  part. 
The  approaching  entertainment  was  the  con- 
stant subject  of  conversation,  and  Patience 
looked  forward  to  it  with  the  highest  expecta- 
tions. 

Lady  Rich  was  speaking  of  it  one  night  as 
she  lay  awake.  "  I  hope  Robert  may  carry  off 
the  prize,"  she  said;  "but  I  fear  that  in  that 
as  in  everything  else  he  is  too  indifferent  to 
succeed.  If  there  were  only  someone  among 
the  spectators  for  whom  he  cared,  as  Sidney 
cared  for  me.  Oh !  a  woman  can  make  the 
man  who  loves  her  do  anything.  I  made  Sidney 
win  the  prize  of  the  tournament  which  was  given 


THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  79 

to  entertain  the  French  embassy  that  came  to 
arrange  a  marriage  between  Queen  Elizabeth 
and  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  And  he  gave  me  the 
credit  for  it  too.  Read  this  sonnet  which  Sir 
Fulke  found  in  one  of  his  books.  I  have  read 
it  over  and  over,  but  I  cannot  sleep,  and  I  want 
to  hear  it.  Your  voice  has  a  lilting  uplift 
which  is  like  his,  a  singing  quality  which  fits 
itself  to  joyous  poetry." 
And  Patience  read : 

"  Having  this  day  my  horse,  my  hand,  my  lance 
Guided  so  well  that  I  obtained  the  prize, 
Both  in  the  judgment  of  the  English  eyes, 
And  of  some  sent  from  that  sweet  enemy  France, 
Horsemen  my  skill  in  horsemanship  advance, 
Some  lucky  wits  impute  it  but  to  chance, 
Others,  because  of  both  sides  I  do  take 
My  blood  from  them  who  did  excel  I  in  this, 
Think  Nature  me  a  man  of  arms  did  make. 
Ho\v  far  they  shot  awry !    The  true  cause  is, 
Stella  looked  on,  and  from  her  heavenly  face 
Sent  forth  the  beams  which  made  so  fair  my  race. " 

The  book  fell  from  her  hand,  and  Patience 
wondered  if  ever  a  brave  knight  would  do 
deeds  of  high  emprise  because  she  was  looking 
on.  She  had  no  thought  of  the  mock  tourna- 
ment and  of  Sir  Robert  in  his  tinsel  armor,  but 
of  the  nobler  lists  of  life  and  of  two  young 
knights  who  were  always  ready  to  attempt 
any  adventure  for  her  sake;  Wrestling,  imperi- 


80  PATIENCE. 

ous  and  reckless  ;  and  Love,  with  his  eyes  full 
of  an  infinite  tenderness.  If  she  must  choose 
one  and  one  only  for  her  knight — which  would 
it  be? 

The  next  morning  there  was  to  be  a  dress 
rehearsal  at  Kenilworth,  and  Lady  Rich  took 
Patience  with  her.  The  castle  at  this  time 
was  in  the  same  magnificent  state  in  \vhich  the 
Earl  of  Leicester  had  put  it  for  ihefdte  which 
he  gave  Queen  Elizabeth.  Cromwell's  soldiers 
utterly  dismantled  it,  but  even  now  in  its  ruined 
condition  the  traveler  realizes  what  a  noble 
building  it  once  was.  Lady  Rich  showed  her 
some  of  the  rooms  which  were  not  occupied 
by  the  royal  family,  and  Patience  was  much 
impressed  by  the  stately  furnishings,  the  great 
bedsteads  with  crimson  satin  counterpanes  and 
curtains  "all  lozenged  over  with  silver,"  the 
carved  posts  surmounted  by  bears  with  rag- 
ged staves,  or  gold  cups  holding  ostrich  plumes, 
something  after  the  fashion  of  a  modern  hearse. 
The  walls  were  hung  with  tapestries  depicting 
gardens  in  perspective,  with  colonnades  of 
pillars  and  arches,  and  in  Prince  Henry's  study 
there  were  great  maps  of  the  New  World,  on 
which  the  Prince  had  traced  with  different- 
colored  pencils  the  voyages  of  Hawkins,  Drake/ 
and  Raleigh.  As  Patience  was  looking  at  one 


THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  81 

of  these  maps,  the  Prince  entered  and  spoke  to 
Lady  Rich,  who  presented  Patience. 

"  Would  you  like  to  see  the  prize  of  the 
tilting  ? "  he  asked.  "  In  old  times  it  was 
usually  a  jewel,  but  I  have  had  a  piece  of  plate 
that  was  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  copied,  in  order 
that  it  should  be  suggestive  of  Keuilworth." 

He  unlocked  an  ebony  cabinet  and  showed 
them  a  silver  salt-cellar  shaped  like  a  ship,  with 
little  cannon,  anchors,  and  ensigns,  and  all  sails 
set,  and  for  a  figurehead  Fortune  standing 
on  a  globe  and  holding  a  flag.*  On  the 
side  of  the  ship  were  engraved  the  words 
"  The  Shepherd  of  the  Ocean."  "  That  is  what 
Spenser  called  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,"  said  the 
Prince.  "  I  would  like  to  give  him  this  piece 
of  plate ;  but  some  day  I  hope  to  give  him  a 
real  ship,  and  that  will  please  him  better." 

He  then  asked  if  they  had  seen  the  prepara- 
tions in  the  tilt-yard  for  the  tournament,  and 
showed  them  his  private  turret  staircase  from 
the  study,  which  he  said  was  the  nearest  way. 

It  was  the  same  tilt-yard  which  had  wit- 
nessed the  tourney  in  honor  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
Workmen  were  busy  constructing  a  terrace 
which  was  to  serve  as  a  stage  for  the  prologue, 
and  digging  a  bed  for  an  artificial  lake.  The 

oo     o 

turret  door  through  which  they  had  come  was 

*  See  Note  c,  Appendix. 


82  PATIENCE. 

to  be  one  of  the  entrances  to  the  stage,  for  the 
Prince  was  to  take  part  and  his  study  was  to 
be  used  for  the  dressing  room  of  the  principal 
characters.  From  the  tilt-yard  Lady  Rich 
took  Patience  to  an  inner  court,  which  was  laid 
out  as  a  garden,  with  a  fine  aviary.  As  she 
was  too  early  for  the  rehearsal  she  sat  down 
for  a  few  moments  with  Patience,  pointing  out 
and  naming  the  strange  birds,  and  chatting  on 
various  subjects. 

"  It  is  a  grand  castle,"  said  Lady  Rich.  "  I 
suppose  you  know  that  it  was  given  by  Queen 
Elizabeth  to  her  favorite  Robert  Dudley,  whom 
she  made  Earl  of  Leicester." 

"  Why,  Dudley  is  my  name  ! "  exclaimed 
Patience.  "  I  wonder  if  Father  is  related  to 
him?" 

"  It  may  be  that  you  come  from  the  stock 
from  which  he  sprung,  the  Sutton  Dudleys  of 
Dudley  Castle.  It  is  an  old  family,  but  not 
high  in  rank,  for  they  were  only  barons, 
and  not  rich  in  purse  either,  until  in  the 
time  of  Henry  VIII.  when  John  Dudley  was 
created  Duke  of  Northumberland  and  Earl  of 
Warwick,  and  rose  to  that  pitch  of  pride  from 
which  he  fell  so  miserably. 

"  Pride  and  ambition  were  the  curse  of  that 
house.  It  needed  the  sharp  medicine  of  the 


THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  83 

headsman's  ax  to  cure  those  distempers.  The 
Earl  of  Northumberland  was  beheaded,  with 
his  son  Guilford  and  his  daughter-in-law,  the 
gentle  Lady  Jane  Grey,  whom  he  had  made 
King  and  Queen.  This  should  have  been  warn- 
ing enough  to  the  other  members  of  his  family, 
but  another  of  the  earl's  sons,  Robert  Dudley, 
aspired  to  the  position  of  King  Consort,  played 
for  so  short  a  time  by  his  brother  Guilford,  for 
he  vainly  dreamed  that  Queen  Elizabeth  would 
marry  him.  He  entertained  her  here  most 
royally,  when  she  visited  Kenilworth  with 
her  court.  For  seventeen  days  he  lavished  his 
fortune  with  more  than  princely  extravagance, 
expending  more  than  a  thousand  pounds  each 
day  in  the  entertainment  of  his  guests.  All  to 
no  purpose,  for  he  never  obtained  the  object  of 
his  ambition." 

"I  marvel  that  father  has  never  told  me 
about  the  Earl  of  Leicester,"  said  Patience, 
knitting  her  brows  thoughtfully.  "  I  have 
heard  him  speak  of  very  few  of  our  relatives, 
though  I  remember  now  that  he  said  that  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  was  a  Dudley,  and  possibly  we 
might  be  of  the  same  blood  as  well  as  name." 

"  Sir  Philip  Sidney  was  the  nephew  of  Leices- 
ter, the  son  of  Leicester's  sister  Mary  Dudley. 
He  was  always  very  proud  of  this,  and  said  that 


84  PATIENCE. 

it  was  his  '  chiefest  honor  to  be  a  Dudley.'  If 
you  are  related  to  Sidney  you  are  also  related 
to  Leicester.  Why  did  you  not  mention 
this  when  I  might  have  questioned  your 
father?" 

"It  is  strange  that  he  does  not  know  cer- 
tainly," Patience  replied ;  "  but  his  father  and 
mother  died  when  he  was  very  young,  and  he 
was  brought  up  as  a  page  in  a  noble  family 
where  there  was  no  one  who  cared  very  much 
for  him ;  and,  though  he  received  the  education 
of  a  gentleman  he  was  told  that  it  was  through 
the  kindness  of  a  lady  in  no  way  related  to 
him." 

"Do  not  trouble  your  little  head  with 
mysteries,"  said  Lady  Rich ;  "  they  are  generally 
best  unraveled.  I  must  go  in  now.  If  you  tire 
of  waiting  here  I  shall  expect  to  find  you  at  the 
gatekeeper's  lodge." 

Lady  Rich  had  hardly  gone,  when  a  tall  thin 
man,  dressed  entirely  in  black,  startled  Patience 
by  appearing  quite  mysteriously,  she  could  not 
tell  from  what  direction.  The  man  looked 
about  him  carefully,  and,  seeing  that  no  one  was 
near,  approached  Patience  and  asked  in  a  gentle 
voice : 

"  What  is  your  name,  my  little  maid  ? " 

"  Patience  Dudley,  good  sir." 


THE  PRIESTS  HOLE.  85 

"  Then  you  are  one  of  the  persons  whose  con- 
versation I  have  just  overheard.  I  was  reading 
within  the  tower,  and  I  found  myself  becoming 
interested  in  what  you  said,  for  I  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  Dudley  family.  Tell  me  all 
that  you  know  of  your  father ;  it  may  be  that  I 
can  tell  you  still  more." 

"  My  father  is  Captain  Thomas  Dudley,  stew- 
ard of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln." 

"  And  his  father's  name  ? " 

"  I  know  not,  worthy  sir ;  only  that  he  was  a 
soldier,  and  died  at  Ivry,  leading  the  English 
troops  who  were  sent  to  France  to  aid  Henri  of 
Navarre." 

"And  thy  father's  mother?" 

"  He  remembers  her  not." 

"  True,  little  maid,  nor  his  father  neither,  for 
he  is  of  no  such  mean  birth  as  he  deems  him- 
self. If  I  could  talk  with  thy  father  I  could 
make  these  things  plain.  Know  you  no  other 
mysteries  in  his  history,  my  child  ? " 

Patience  put  her  hand  to  her  head  and  tried 
to  think.  "  It  is  true  that  I  have  heard  him  say 
that  all  through  his  life  he  has  found  himself 
strangely  befriended  though  alone.  It  was  as 
though  an  unseen  power  watched  over  him. 
When  he  came  of  age  a  fortune  was  left  him,  by 
whom  he  knew  not.  When  he  desired  to  go 


86  PATIENCE. 

a-soldiering  he  received,  by  some  stranger's  in- 
fluence, a  captain's  commission,  signed  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  thus  he  went  to  France  and 
served  the  Huguenot  cause,  as  his  father  had 
done  before  him." 

"  Speak  no  more  of  his  father  as  the  soldier 

of    whom    you    have    been    told The 

strange  man  bent  forward  and  lifted  his  hand 
to  his  mouth  as  though  about  to  whisper,  then 
seemed  to  change  his  mind,  for  he  muttered : 
"  You  are  too  young  to  understand  these  mat- 
ters, but  I  would  have  speech  with  thy  father. 
Tell  him  carefully  all  I  have  said,  and  also  that 
his  father  and  mother  were  privately  married  by 
a  priest  of  my  order ;  that  I  know  whereof  I 
speak,  for  I  have  seen  the  record.  If  he  would 
know  these  things  to  a  certainty,  write  him  to 
come  to  London  at  once,  and  to  inquire  at  the 
house  of  Thomas  Percy,  next  to  the  Houses  of 
Parliament,  on  the  water  side,  for  Father 
Greenway.  Write  him  that  there  are  great 
matters  stirring  which  may  lift  him  and  thee 
higher  than  ye  wot,  if  he  can  be  secret  and  de- 
termined. The  Dudleys  were  not  lacking  in 
these  qualities.  Let  him  prove  himself  a  true 
Dudley.  Thou  too,  little  maid,  be  secret. 
Breathe  naught  of  this  to  any  human  being,  or 
all  may  miscarry.  Promise ;  it  is  a  matter  of 


THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  87 

life  and  death  for  thy  father,   and  for  many 
goodly  gentlemen." 

"  I  promise  to  tell  no  one  but  my  father," 
said  Patience,  "  for  I  cannot  see  that  his  lineage 
concerns  any  other.  As  for  the  other  secret 
matters  of  which  you  speak,  since  you  are  a 
Jesuit  and  my  father  a  Puritan,  I  see  not  how 
you  can  work  together." 

"  Are  we  not  equally  desirous  of  toleration  in 
matters  of  religion  ?  If  the  Catholics  and  the 
Puritans  would  unite  to  that  end — yea,  and 
some  of  the  Protestants,  who  hold  not  to 
the  King's  tyranny — we  could  effect  a  change 
of  ministry.  Another  man  in  the  place  of 
Cecil,  and  this  might  be  effected — but  why 
do  I  talk  to  you  of  such  matters?  We 
will  chat  of  other  things.  What  is  your  posi- 
tion here  ? — for  I  take  it  you  live  in  the  castle, 
since  I  saw  you  come  out  of  the  door  of  the  tur- 
ret which  they  tell  me  leads  to  the  apartments 
of  the  Prince.  Are  you  one  of  the  Queen's 
maids  of  honor  ? " 

"  Nay,  sir ;  I  am  only  companion  to  my  Lady 
Rich,  who  is  within  rehearsing  her  part  for  the 
masque.  The  Prince  bade  us  use  his  staircase 
to  see  the  works  in  the  tilt-yard.  It  will  be 
a  grand  spectacle.  Shall  you  see  it,  good 
sir?" 


88  PATIENCE. 

"  It  is  possible.  Is  this  the  prologue  for  the 
tilting  which  you  have,  then  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.  Lady  Rich  left  it  here ;  she 
brought  it  by  mistake  with  her  own  part." 

The  stranger  took  it  up  and  glanced  over  it 
with  much  interest.  "  A  well-constructed  play," 
he  said  at  length.  "  I  have  managed  miracle 
plays  myself,  and  know  something  of  the  art. 
So  this  is  the  setting  of  the  stage — entrances 
here  and  here — h'm  h'm !  That  is  a  good 
speech  of  Chivalry's.  It  has  the  ring  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh's  verse,  and  was  written  by 
someone  practiced  in  the  arts  of  the  courtier. 
Could  it  have  been  written  by  Raleigh  ? " 

"  Nay,  sir ;  by  the  court  poet,  Mr.  Jonson." 

"  Then  he  surely  had  Raleigh  in  mind. 
There  is  more  here  than  appears  to  the  eye. 
Yes,  I  will  surely  be  present.  There  will  be 
one  transformation  scene  which  will  be  a  sur- 
prise indeed." 

"  Are  you,  sir,  perchance  one  of  the  actors  ? " 

"Nay,  little  maid,  but  I  have  a  prompter's 
part  behind  the  scenes.  The  mountebank  who 
makes  the  puppets  dance,  though  himself  un- 
seen, is  as  important  to  the  play  as  anyone  who 
struts  upon  the  stage.  The  play  will  have 
beautiful  scenery,  for  this  castle  has  a  fair  pros- 
pect of  forest.  Dost  thou  love  to  watch  the 


TSE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  89 

hunters  with  their  horses  and  dogs  ?  It  is  a 
sport  of  which  many  noble  ladies  are  fond." 

"  I  have  lived  much  of  my  life  in  Sherwood 
Forest,  and  I  love  the  wild  wood  and  the  wild 
creatures,  but  I  would  not  harm  the  tender 
things." 

"And  yet  they  prey  upon  one  another,  and 
the  stronger  beasts  would  kill  thee  if  they 
could.  It  is  but  nature  for  the  strong  to  hunt 
the  weak,  and  for  the  weak,  by  ruse  and  sly- 
ness, by  doubling  and  feigning  death,  by  hid- 
ing and  running,  to  foil  the  strong.  There  is  a 
keen  pleasure  in  the  chase,  and  doubtless  the 
rascal  fox  who  saves  his  brush  hath  as  lively  a 
joy  as  the  sportsman.  Queen  Elizabeth  loved 
to  hunt  in  this  very  region,  and  other  women 
holier  than  she.  I  have  here  a  little  book,  writ 
by  Dame  Juliana  Berners.  She  was  prioress 
long  since  of  Sop  well  Nunnery  in  Hertfordshire 
on  the  little  River  Ver,  so  famous  for  its  trout. 
This  pious  woman  would  tuck  her  abbess1 
robes  about  her  and  wade  and  whip  its  waters. 
She  rode  bravely  also  to  hounds — following 
not  the  timid  roes  alone,  but  fearing  not  to  en- 
gage the  wild  boar.  She  wrote  this  little  book, 
which  will  prove  to  thee  that  the  life  of  a  nun 
hath  its  pleasures,  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual. 
I  will  leave  it  on  this  bench,  that  you  may  say 


do  PATIENCE. 

truly  that  you  found  it,  and  need  make  no 
mention  of  me." 

While  the  Jesuit  was  speaking  Patience 
noticed  an  undersized  man  prowling  about  one 
of  the  oldest  towers.  He  had  a  bunch  of 
keys,  and  seemed  to  be  trying  unsuccessfully 
to  fit  one  to  a  lock  in  a  postern  gate.  Finally 
he  put  them  all  back  in  a  pouch  at  his  belt  and, 
putting  his  fingers  to  his  lips,  uttered  a  shrill 
whistle.  The  Jesuit  at  once  arose.  "  That  is 
my  friend  Owen  Littlejohn,"  he  said  ;  and  bid- 
ding Patience  farewell,  he  glided  away. 

Left  alone,  Patience  opened  the  book.  It  was 
called  "  A  Treatise  on  Hawking,  Hunting,  and 
Fishing  with  an  Angle,"  and  was  very  quaintly 
written  in  rhyme.  The  sporting  abbess  had 
mingled  allusions  to  the  saints'  days  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  calendar  with  technical  terms 
used  in  hunting,  so  that  it  was  difficult  to  tell 
whether  she  held  her  sacred  vocation  or  her 
love  for  sport  most  at  heart.  Patience  read  on, 
fascinated  by  the  love  of  nature  and  by  the 
pleasure  of  puzzling  out  the  antiquated  lan- 
guage : 

"The  season  of  the  boar  [wrote  the  prioress]  is  from  the 

Natyvytee, 

Till  the  Puriflcacion  of  Our  Ladye  so  free — 
For  at  the  Natyvytee  of  Our  Ladye  sweet 
He  may  find  where  he  goeth  under  his  feet, 


THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  01 

Both  in  wood-es  and  fleld-es — corn  and  other  fruit 

When  he  after  food  maketh  any  suit, 

Crabbes  and  oak  cornes  [crabapples  and  acorns]  and  nottes 

[nuts]  where  they  grow, 
Haws  and  hips,  and  other  things  enow. 
That  till  the  Purificacion  lasteth,  as  ye  see, 
And  maketh  the  boar  in  season  to  be." 

Patience  read  until  she  had  finished  the  book, 
and  then  she  hid  it  in  her  pocket.  It  had  pre- 
cisely the  effect  which  the  Jesuit  had  planned, 
to  make  her  wish  that  she  had  known  this  jolly 
abbess  so  like  Friar  Tuck,  and  to  feel  that 
Catholic  priests  and  nuns  were  after  all  very 
agreeable  people.  After  the  rehearsal  Lady 
Rich  drove  with  Patience  to  Clopton  House,  a 
stately  manor  owned  by  her  friend  Lady  Joyce 
Carew.  They  found  this  lady  busily  preparing 
for  her  removal  to  London.  She  explained  that 
her  husband  had  leased  the  property  for  the 
hun tin sr  season  to  a  Mr.  Kokewood,  whose  horses 

O  ' 

were  already  in  the  stables,  and  were  so  fine 
that  the  Countess  might  like  to  see  them. 

Lady  Joyce  threw  a  little  wrap  over  her 
shoulders,  and  led  her  guests  to  the  stables. 
One  of  the  new  grooms  stood  in  the  doorway. 
He  was  as  diminutive  as  a  jockey  should  be, 
but  not  young :  his  face  was  seamed  with 
wrinkles  ;  and  Patience  at  once  recognized  the 
uncanny  little  man,  Owen  Littlejohn,  whom  she 


62  PATIENCE. 

had  seen  prowling  about  Kenilworth.  She 
was  sure  that  he  recognized  her  also,  for  he 
caught  himself  in  an  involuntary  duck  of  the 
head.  He  moved  aside  grudgingly,  and  allowed 
the  ladies  to  enter  the  stables. 

Lady  Rich  was  fond  of  horses,  and  she  patted 
and  caressed  them,  and  noted  their  good  points 
enthusiastically.  The  groom  followed  them 
about  from  stall  to  stall,  but  when  Lady  Joyce 
asked  him  the  predigree  of  a  fine  piebald  racer, 
he  seemed  strangely  ignorant  for  a  man  who 
had  had  the  care  of  horses. 

"  I  have  never  seen  a  horse  marked  like  that," 
said  Lady  Joyce ;  "  it  must  be  a  rare  breed." 

"  I  have  seen  one  similar  recently,"  said  Lady 
Rich  ;  and  Patience  remembered  that  the  horse 
on  which  Wrestling  had  ridden  to  London  was 
spotted  in  the  same  peculiar  way. 

As  they  returned  to  the  house  from  the 
stables,  Patience  saw  the  little  man  run  across 
the  lawn  and  disappear  from  sight  behind  one 
of  the  ivy-clad  chimneys.  She  called  Lady 
Joyce's  attention  to  this  fact,»but  her  ladyship 
was  positive  that  Patience  was  mistaken. 

"  He  must  be  hiding  in  the  angle  still,  if  you 
are  correct,"  she  said,  u  for  there  is  no  door  or 
window  in  the  wall  beyond  the  chimney."  To 
prove  her  assertion  she  led  the  way  to  the  foot 


THE  PRIEST'S  HOLE.  03 

of  the  chimney.  There  was  no  one  standing 
in  its  shelter,  and  there  was  apparently  no 
opening  of  any  sort  by  which  he  could  have 
disappeared. 

"You  see  that  you  were  wrong,"  Lady  Joyce 
exclaimed  triumphantly,  "  for  he  certainly 
could  not  have  sunk  into  the  ground  !  " 

Patience  was  so  certain  of  what  she  had 
seen  that  she  looked  closely  at  the  tangle  of 
creepers.  It  seemed  to  her  that  they  had  been 
recently  disturbed,  for  loose  leaves  were  lying 
on  the  grass.  She  pushed  them  aside  with  her 
hands,  and  showed  a  small  opening  into  the 
chimney. 

"That  is  probably  a  hole  to  remove  ashes 
and  soot,"  said  Lady  Joyce,  "  but  no  one  but  a 
chimney  sweep  could  enter  it." 

"The  groom  was  small  enough  to  be  a 
sweep,"  said  the  Countess.  "  Perhaps  he  is 
one,  and  has 'been  ordered  by  your  new  ten- 
ants to  clean  the  chimney.  Look  in,  Patience, 
and  tell  us  if  anyone  is  there." 

Patience  lay  down  on  the  grass  and  pushed 
herself  forward  until  her  head  was  inside  the 
opening.  There  was  no  one  within,  for  she 
could  look  straight  up  to  the  sky.  She  noticed, 
however,  that  at  short  distances  strong  iron 
bolts  projected  from  the  wall  of  the  chimney, 


94  PATIENCE. 

so  that  it  would  have  been  perfectly  easy  for  a 
man  to  mount  from  the  ground  to  the  roof. 
There  were  three  openings,  probably  for  flues, 
on  the  side  of  the  chimney  next  to  the  house, 
on  the  first,  second,  and  third  floors. 

Withdrawing  her  head,  Patience  reported 
what  she  had  seen.  Lady  Joyce  looked  puzzled. 
"  There  is  no  fireplace  communicating  with  this 
chimney  on  the  ground  floor,"  she  said  thought- 
fully. "  The  library  is  on  this  side  of  the  house, 
but  it  is  not  a  very  large  room.  It  does  not 
seem  as  if  there  was  so  much  space  inside  as 
between  that  window  and  this  wall.  On  the 
next  story  is  my  chamber,  which  is  surely  much 
larger.  In  that  room  I  have  two  fireplaces, 
but  the  one  communicating  with  this  chimney 
we  never  use,  for  when  we  light  a  fire  in  it  the 
draught  is  so  poor  that  the  smoke  is  driven 
into  the  room.  On  the  attic  story  the  chimney 
abuts  against  the  oratory,  and  there  is  no  fire- 
place there,  nor  ever  has  been;  the  room  is  al- 
ways cold,  and  a  religious  picture  hangs  where 
you  thought  you  saw  the  opening  for  a  flue." 

"It  is  certainly  odd,"  said  Lady  Rich,  " that 
so  great  a  chimney  should  have  been  con- 
structed for  no  use.  Did  you  mark,  Patience, 
whether  it  was  lined  with  soot  ?  " 

"  Nay,  my  lady,  it  is  as  clean  as  though  it 


THE  PRIESTS  HOLE.  95 

were  built  yesterday,  save  for  swallows'  nests, 
though  I  saw  no  birds." 

"  There  were  swallows  in  that  chimney," 
said  Lady  Joyce ;  "  but  lately  there  has  been 
a  great  commotion  among  them,  and  they  have 
deserted  it  for  the  chimney  on  the  other  side" 
of  the  house." 

"  You  spoke  of  the  oratory,"  said  Lady  Eich. 
"  I  have  heard  that  Pope  Sixtus  authorized 
one  of  your  ancestors  to  have  a  chapel  con- 
secrated in  this  house,  and  to  have  mass  per- 
formed therein.  That  is  no  shame  to  you, 
for  it  was  before  the  Reformation,  and  every- 
one knows  what  good  Protestants  your  family 
have  been  since  then.  I  am  curious  to  see  the 
oratory.  Will  you  kindly  show  it  to  me  ?  " 

They  entered  the  house,  which  was  a  large 
and  rambling  moated  grange,  with  impish  little, 
figures  in  the  stone  carving  about  the  doors 
and  windows.  Within,  the  rooms  were  laby- 
rinthine in  their  windings,  with  long  passages 
and  several  little  staircases.  Up  one  of  these 
they  climbed  to  a  long  corridor  in  the  attic. 

"These  rooms  were  intended  for  the  serv- 
ants, but  not  a  maid  of  the  house  will  enter  this 
corridor  after  dark,"  Lady  Joyce  explained. 
"It  is  commonly  reported  haunted,  and  mys- 
terious footsteps  have  been  heard  along  it  by 


96  PATIENCE. 

the  occupants  of  the  chambers  below;  so  the 
entire  floor  has  been  given  up  to  lumber  rooms 
and  the  ghosts.  This  is  the  oratory.  As  she 
spoke  she  opened  the  door  of  a  small  room. 
It  was  utterly  vacant  except  for  an  altar, 
above  which  hung  a  large  oil-painting.  The 
canvas  was  so  old  and  blackened  that  the  sub- 
ject was  not  at  once  discernible,  but  as  Patience 
gazed  it  came  out  with  startling  distinctness. 
It  was  such  a  picture  as  Orcagna  might  have 
painted — the  terrible  Last  Judgment,  with  the 
wicked  falling  into  the  flames  of  the  pit.  Lady 
Joyce  uttered  a  cry  of  surprise.  "  The  picture 
has  been  changed  ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  There 
was  a  Saint  Anthony  of  Padua  there  when  I 
was  last  in  this  room." 

"When  was  that?"  Lady  Rich  asked;  but 
Lady  Joyce  could  not  remember  exactly :  not 
this  summer,  and  she  had  been  at  court  all  the 
previous  winter,  as  lady-in-waiting  for  Queen 
Anne,  wife  of  King  James,  as  in  her  youth  she 
had  been  for  Queen  Elizabeth. 

She  was  much  excited  by  the  change  in  the 
picture,  but  Lady  Rich  partially  reassured  her 
by  suggesting  that  her  husband  might  have  pur- 
chased it  and  placed  it  here  without  her  knowl- 
edge. As  they  were  talking,  the  sky  became 
darkened  and  a  rumble  of  thunder  was  heard. 


THE  PRIESTS  HOLE.  97 

"  We  are  going  to  have  a  shower,"  exclaimed 
Lady  Rich ;  "  we  must  hasten  our  departure  ! " 
On  reaching  the  outer  door  they  found  that 
they  were  too  late;  the  rain  was  descending 
in  torrents.  The  coachman  had  sought  the 
shelter  of  the  stables  with  the  carriage,  and 
the  only  thing  to  be  done  was  to  await  the 
passing  of  the  rain. 

Lady  Joyce  ordered  dinner,  but  after  it  was 
over  the  storm  increased,  and  her  guests  de- 
cided to  send  the  coachman  home  with  word 
that  they  had  determined  to  remain  over  night. 

Lady  Joyce  insisted  that  her  guests  should 
occupy  her  own  room,  while  she  removed  to 
a  smaller  chamber  across  the  hall.  The  two 
ladies  lingered  chatting  in  the  library,  but 
Patience  retired  early.  As  she  sat  in  front  of 
the  dressing-table  combing  her  hair  she  dis- 
tinctly heard  footsteps  along  the  corridor 
above.  Lady  Joyce  had  told  her  that  the 
attic  story  was  unoccupied.  She  did  not  be- 
lieve in  ghosts,  and  the  conclusion  which  she 
arrived  at  was  that  the  noise  must  be  made  by 
rats.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  rats  are  very 
reassuring  and  comforting  animals.  Patience 
remembered  similar  experiences.  How  she 
had  been  wakened  in  the  middle  of  the  night 
by  strange  sounds  as  of  robbers  in  the  rooms 


98  PATIENCE. 

below,  how  she  had  listened  to  their  footsteps 
mounting  the  stairs,  and  had  lain  staring  into 
the  darkness  paralyzed  with  terror,  not  daring 
to  spring  from  her  bed  and  lock  the  chamber 
door.  Then  there  had  come  a  creak  of  the 
hinge,  and  she  was  sure  that  the  mauraders 
were  in  the  room  and  that  someone  was  creep- 
ing stealthily  along  the  floor  toward  the  bed. 
She  had  tried  to  shriek,  but  her  throat  was  rigid. 
Then  suddenly  there  had  been  a  wild  scuffle, 
a  scramble  and  squeaking  behind  the  arras. 
Thank  Heaven,  there  were  rats  in  the  house ! 

What  convinced  Patience  at  this  time  that 
the  noises  she  had  heard  were  not  those  of 
human  footfalls  was  that  they  were  presently 
transferred  to  the  wall — a  shuffling,  scraping 
noise,  as  though  rats,  or  possibly  some  larger 
creatures,  were  climbing  down  the  chimney. 
She  was  a  brave  girl,  and  though  frightened 
she  did  not  run  out  of  the  room  or  scream. 
The  noise  seemed  to  descend  cautiously  and 
with  interruptions.  Suddenly,  just  inside  the 
fireplace  and  below  the  mantel  appeared  two 
human  feet  in  low  shoes  with  silver  buckles, 
then  came  two  thin  legs  cased  in  black  woolen 
stockings,  above  and  about  them  fluttering  a 
black  gown;  and  Patience  braced  herself  for 
the  appearance  of  a  woman,  possibly  a  witch 


THE  PRIESTS  HOLE.  99 

with  her  broomstick,  which  would  not  at  all 
have  surprised  her ;  when  suddenly  the  figure 
appeared  to  let  go  its  hold  of  some  support 
inside  the  chimney  and  there  tumbled  into  the 
room  and  stood  erect  the  very  man  with  whom 
she  had  conversed  in  the  garden  at  Kenilworth, 
now  dressed  in  the  black  robe  of  a  priest.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  tell  which  was  the  more 
surprised,  but  the  priest  recovered  himself 
first*  "Fear  not,  my  child,"  he  said,  "I 
have  more  cause  for  fear  than  thou.  Listen. 
I  am  a  hunted  man  in  hiding.  If  thou  betray- 
est  me  vengeance  will  fall  upon  thee  swiftly 
and  surely.  Be  silent,  say  nothing,  and  no 
harm  shall  come  to  thee  or  thy  friends." 

"  If  I  cry  not,  will  you  go  away,  far  away  ? " 
Patience  asked. 

"  Nay,  I  must  remain  for  the  present  in  these 
walls ;  but  if  thou  art  true  to  me  I  can  be  of 
the  greatest  service  to  thy  father.  Child,  it  is 
more  than  chance  which  has  twice  thrown  thee 
in  my  way.  Hast  thou  told  thy  father  what  I 
bade  thee?" 

"  He  is  in  Lincolnshire,  and  I  thought  to 
send  the  message  to  him  by  a  friend,  one 
Wrestling  Brewster,  who  comes  hither  shortly 
and  will  return  to  his  parents  and  mine." 

"  Where  is  he  now  ?  " 

*  See  Note  d,  Appendix. 


100  PATIENCE. 

"In  London  with  Lord  Rich.  He  had  a 
great  desire  to  see  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  who 
hath  ever  been  his  hero,  and  Lord  Rich 
promised  to  effect  this." 

"  Child,  this  happens  wondrous  opportunely. 
Listen;  the  devices  which  I  told  thee  were 
hatching  are  to  set  Sir  Walter  at  liberty,  but  it 
is  necessary  to  get  word  to  him  of  their  nature. 
If  this  Wrestling  would  carry  a  message  to  him, 
and  deliver  it  secretly  on  parting,  he  would 
make  his  release  possible.  Can  the  young  man 
keep  a  secret ;  is  he  brave,  is  he  to  be  trusted  ? " 

"  All  of  these,  good  sir,  and  he  would  give  his 
life  for  Sir  Walter." 

"  Then  sit  down  quickly  at  this  escritoire  and 
write  as  I  bid  thee.  Say  :  *  The  bearer  of  this 
letter  [that  is  I,  for  I  will  hastily  to  London 
and  find  him]  will  give  to  thee  a  sealed  packet 
for  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  from  my  Lord  Carew, 
from  whose  house  I  write.  Deliver  it  with  all 
secrecy,  for  the  lives  of  many  depend  upon  it, 
as  well  as  the  escape  of  our  great  friend.' 
There ;  thou  canst  sign  thy  name,  and  inclose 
in  the  letter  one  for  thy  father  touching  the 
knowledge  I  have  of  what  is  dark  in  his  history. 
Bid  him  haste."  When  Patience  had  finished, 
the  Jesuit  took  Lady  Joyce's  seal,  which  was 
lying  on  the  escritoire,  and  sealed  the  letter. 


THE  PRIESTS  HOLE.  101 

"  Remember,"  he  said,  "  to  be  secret ;  and 
thou  and  I  shall  meet  again."  While  Patience 
was  writing  he  had  carelessly  traced  the  signa- 
ture of  Sir  George  Carew  from  an  open  letter, 
and  having  glanced  at  a  card  of  invitation  to 
the  masque  which  Lady  Rich  had  brought  her 
friend,  absent-mindedly  bestowed  it  with  the 
letter  which  Patience  had  just  written  within 
the  breast  of  his  gown.  "  Thou  wilt  be  at  this 
masque,"  he  said  thoughtfully.  "  There  is  a 
little  postern  gate  opening  on  the  garden  where 
I  talked  with  thee.  When  the  revel  begins  slip 
away,  unbolt  it,  and  leave  it  ajar.  I  shall  be  re- 
turning with  Sir  Walter,  and  shall  take  him 
straight  to  Prince  Henry,  who  meanwhile  will 
have  secured  his  pardon  from  the  King  and,  as 
we  hope,  his  appointment  to  Cecil's  offices. 

"  I  was  planning  all  this  with  the  Prince  at 
Kenilworth  to-day.  He  had  Ben  Jonson  write 
the  prologue  with  this  denouement  in  view. 
Raleigh  is  to  take  the  part  of  Chivalry  and  be 
hidden  in  the  Prince's  apartments  until  it  is 
time  for  him  to  appear  upon  the  stage.  If  you 
think  of  the  prologue  with  this  explanation,  you 
will  see  how  cleverly  it  has  been  written  to 
serve  as  a  presentation  of  the  Prince's  friend 
restored  to  favor.  All  we  need  is  a  trusty 
messenger  to  carry  him  a  letter," 


102  PATIENCE. 

All  this  seemed  very  feasible  to  Patience. 
She  was  too  young  to  track  the  improbabilities, 
or  to  suspect  other  schemes  concealed  beneath 
the  one  represented. 

Her  face  lighted  with  eagerness.  "I  will 
help  you  with  all  my  heart,"  she  promised, 
"  and  so  will  Wrestling  and  my  father  too." 
"  Where  bide  you,  little  maid  ? " 
"  With  Lady  Rich  at  Warwick  Castle." 
"  At  Sir  Fulke  Greville's.  Excellent!  Know- 
est  thou  the  mill  below  the  castle  ?  Be  there 
two  nights  hence  at  sundown,  and  I  will  tell  thee 
how  our  matter  has  prospered.  Stay  !  When 
thou  comest  bring  with  thee  any  paper  bearing 
Sir  Fulke's  signature.  I  may  need  it  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  business.  Courage  and 
secrecy,  and  we  shall  yet  see  Sir  Walter  at 
liberty."  So  saying,  the  singular  man  retired 
into  the  chimney,  and  Patience  heard  him 
climbing,  this  time  downward,  she  doubted  not 
to  the  ash-hole  at  the  foot.  She  stepped  to  the 
window  (it  had  ceased  raining,  and  the  moon 
was  shining),  and  presently  saw  his  dark  form 
cross  the  lawn  toward  the  stables.  A  little 
later  he  came  out  leading  the  piebald  racer, 
which  he  mounted ;  and  a  moment  later  she 
heard  his  hoofbeats  on  the  hard  highway 
pounding  away  toward  London. 


CHAPTER  V. 


PLOTS   AND    COUNTERPLOTS. 

For  whoso  reaps  renown  above  the  rest 
With  heaps  of  hate  shall  surely  be  oppressed. 

— SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH. 

I  do  not  love  the  Tower  of  any  place. 

— SHAKSPEARE. 

RESTLING  enjoyed  im- 
mensely his  ride  to  Lon- 
don, and  Lord  Rich,  see- 
ing the  boy's  delight,  did 
everything  in  his  power 
to  augment  it.  Some- 
times they  would  turn 
aside  from  the  direct  road 
to  visit  a  castle  or  an  ab- 
bey, and  at  the  villages 
in  which  they  paused  to 
eat  and  sleep,  if  there 
were  fairs  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, he  would  take 
Wrestling  to  see  the  morris  dancing,  the  tight- 
rope walking,  or  the  itinerant  players.  "We 
shall  see  better  playing  than  this  in  London," 

103 


104  PATIENCE. 

he  promised  his  protege.  "  I  know  Ben  Jonson 
weU.  His  plays  are  given  by  the  children  of 
the  chapel  [choir  boys]  at  Blackfriars,  and 
Will  Shakspeare's  at  the  Globe  are  well  worth 
seeing.  That  theater  is  near  the  Bear  Garden, 
and  we  may  see  some  good  sport  there  as  well." 

"I  have  never  seen  a  bear-baiting,"  said 
Wrestling,  "  and  I  do  not  think  my  father 
would  wish  me  to  go." 

"  Beshrew  him  for  a  Puritan !  His  sect  will 
have  none  of  the  sport,  not  because  it  gives 
the  bear  pain,  but  because  it  pleasures  the 
beholder;  and  the  Puritans'  greatest  grievance 
against  our  sovereign  lord  the  King  is  that 
he  writ  the  '  Book  of  Sports.' " 

"  My  father  would  be  merry  if  he  had  cause," 
said  Wrestling.  "  It  is  a  hard  business  to  be 
lighted-hearted  on  compulsion.  But  I  would 
fain  see  a  play  of  Shakspeare's,  for  Master 
Bradstreet  brought  some  of  his  writings  to  us, 
which  Love  has  read,  and  they  sound  neither 
foolish  nor  wicked." 

"Good,  and  I  shall  take  thee  to  the  Bear 
Garden  too.  What  was  it,  Bradstreet,  that 
Master  Laneham  wrote  of  the  great  bear- 
baiting  that  Queen  Elizabeth  and  her  ladies 
found  so  diverting  in  the  court  at  Kenilworth  ? 
Thou  canst  say  it  by  heart,  I  know." 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        105 

"  I  learned  it,  not  because  I  approved  of  the 
sport,"  said  Bradstreet,  "  but  because  it  seemed 
to  me  a  trifle  savage  for  noble  ladies  to  look 
upon.  Listen ;  what  would  your  lady  mother 
say  to  entertainment  such  as  this  ?  '  It  was  a 
sport  very  pleezant  of  theeze  beestz  to  see  the 
Bear  with  his  pink  eyes  leering  after  his 
enemy's  approach,  the  nimbleness  of  the  dogs 
to  take  his  advantage,  and  the  force  and 
experience  of  the  bear  to  avoid  the  assaults. 
If  he  were  bitten  in  one  place  how  he  would 
pinch  in  another  to  get  free,  what  shifts  with 
biting,  clawing,  with  roaring,  tossing,  and 
tumbling.  And  when  he  was  loose  to  shake 
his  ears  twice  or  thrice,  with  the  blood  and 
slaver  about  his  fiznamy  [physiognomy]  was  a 
matter  of  goodly  releef.' " 

"  I  see  no  amusement  in  that,"  said  Wres- 
tling, "  beyond  chasing  an  otter  with  a  dog — 
nay,  nor  so  much,  for  in  the  otter  hunt  one  hath 
the  desire  of  capturing  the  wild  beastie,  while 
the  bear  is  already  a  captive,  and  his  worriment 
hath  no  end  but  torture." 

Lord  Rich  took  Bradstreet  and  Wrestling 
directly  to  his  father's  town  house.  Here  they 
dined,  and  afterward  went  to  see  the  perform- 
ance of  "  The  Tempest."  The  plot  of  the  play 
was  suggested  to  Shakspeare  by  the  spirit  of 


106  PATIENCE. 

discovery  and  maritime  adventure  then  rife  in 
England.  No  explorer's  story  could  be  devised 
too  extravagant  to  receive  the  comment, 

"  I'll  be  sworn,  'tis  true.    Travelers  ne'er  did  lie, 
Though  fools  at  home  condemn  them." 

Wrestling  was  fascinated  by  the  mixture 
of  realistic  adventure  and  charming  visions 
of  fairyland.  The  New  World  was  all 
an  enchanted  wonderland  at  this  time — its 
geography,  climate,  productions,  and  inhabit- 
ants all  unknown  and  clad  with  romance. 
The  Spaniards  were  returning  from  Peru  and 
Mexico  with  ships  laden  with  gold.  The 
existence  of  the  Fountain  of  Perpetual  Youth, 
of  fabulous  cities  wherein  gems  were  as 
common  as  cobblestones,  was  firmly  credited. 
Birds  of  wondrous  plumage  and  entrancing 
song,  flowers  of  equally  spendid  color  and 
delicious  perfume,  tropical  fruits  and  precious 
metals  were  supposed  to  be  abundant  in  the 
interior  of  Virginia.  It  was  said  that  beautiful 
Amazons  had  offered  Raleigh  the  kingship  of 
America,  and  that  they  had  beaten  their  white 
breasts  with  their  golden  shields  and  torn  their 
long  hair  in  despair  when  he  sailed  away. 

Other  returned  mariners  told  different  stories 
of  hardship  and  disappointment,  but  resolute 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        107 

spirits  remained  undaunted  by  their  reports  of 
shipwrecks  and  encounters  with  fierce  savages, 
so  long  as  the  enchanted  visions  still  hovered 
beyond.  The  wreck  of  Sir  George  Somers' 
ship,  the  Sea  Venture,  on  the  Island  of  Bermuda 
created  a  great  sensation  in  England.  The 
island  was  named  by  him  the  Isle  of  Devils, 
on  account  of  mysterious  cries  heard  by  his 
crew  similar  to  those  described  by  Shakspeare. 
The  Indians  were  by  some  thought  to  be 
demons,  and  by  others  a  higher  order  of  ape. 

The  question  of  how  far  discoverers  had  a 
right  to  govern  these  barbaric  nations  and 
force  civilization  upon  them  was  discussed. 
Caliban  was  the  embodiment  of  these  fancies 
and  queries  ;  and  Shakspeare,  with  his  wonder- 
fully prescient  mind,  makes  him  foretell  the 
Indian's  grievance : 

"  You  taught  me  language;  and  my  profit  on't 
Is  I  know  how  to  curse." 

Indeed,  it  seems  as  if  there  were  no  prob- 
lems of  our  modern  life  which  Shakspeare  did 
not  anticipate.  Schemes  of  colonization  and 
of  socialism  are  discussed  by  him  in  "  The 
Tempest."  * 

*  Gonzalo  is  such  a  socialist : 

"  I'  the  commonwealth  no  kind  of  traffic 
Would  I  admit ;  no  name  of  magistrate ; 


108  PATIENCE. 

Wrestling  was  greatly  moved  by  this  play, 
the  first  which  he  had  ever  seen;  and  his 
desire  to  explore  the  unknown  country  re- 
ceived additional  fuel.  Lord  Rich,  too,  gained 
many  new  ideas,  and  discussed  them  with 
Wrestling  as  they  walked  homeward  after  the 
play. 

The  next  morning  Lord  Rich  went  out  early 
to  obtain  permission  for  himself  and  for 
Wrestling  to  visit  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in  the 
Tower.  Prince  Henry  was  the  stanch  friend 
of  Raleigh,  and  it  was  owing  to  his  patronage 
that  the  prison  life  of  his  protege  was  not  at 
this  time  so  rigorous  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected by  a  man  lying  under  sentence  of  death. 
The  Prince  had  striven  passionately  for  a 
pardon,  but  could  only  obtain  a  delay  in  the 
execution  of  the  sentence.  He  used  to  say 
that  only  such  a  king  as  his  father  would  keep 
such  a  bird  in  a  cage.  It  was  not  love  of  his 

Letters  should  not  be  known  ;  riches,  poverty, 
And  use  of  service,  none  ;  contract,  succession, 
Bourn,  bound  of  land,  tilth,  vineyard,  none." 
No  sovereignty : 

"All  things  in  common,  Nature  should  produce 
Without  sweat  or  endeavor  ;  treason,  felony, 
Sword,  pike,  knife,  gun,  or  need  of  any,  engine, 
Would  I  not  have  ;  but  Nature  should  bring  forth, 
Of  its  own  kind,  all  foison,  all  abundance, 
To  feed  my  innocent  people." 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        109 

son  which  delayed  King  James'  hand,  but  fear 
of  him,  and  of  the  party  which  he  and  Raleigh 
represented. 

Raleigh  was  a  Non-conformist,  and,  without 
identifying  himself  either  with  the  Puritans  or 
Papists,  had  the  sympathy  of  many  in  both 
sects.  Prince  Henry  was  the  hope  of  the 
Puritan  party.  They  could  and  did  endure 
the  tyranny  of  James  so  long  as  there  was  a 
prospect  that  the  next  reign  would  bring  in 
toleration,  and  Prince  Henry  had  openly 
asserted  that  if  he  ever  came  to  the  throne 
none  should  be  persecuted  for  conscience'  sake ; 
and  there  was  a  popular  saying : 

"The  eighth  Henry  did  pull  down  Monks  and  their  cells, 
The  ninth  will  pull  down  Bishops  and  their  bells." 

Wrestling  had  been  left  alone  that  morning, 
for  Bradstreet  had  gone  out  to  attend  to  some 
business  which  would  prevent  his  visiting  Sir 
Walter  with  them. 

The  boy  had  intended  to  take  Mr.  Fawkes' 
horse  to  him  while  Lord  Rich  was  obtaining 
permission  to  enter  the  Tower,  but  immedi- 
ately after  that  nobleman  had  left  the  mansion 
the  Jesuit  arrived  and  asked  for  Master 
Brewster.  He  was  not  dressed  as  a  priest  now, 
but  in  the  garb  of  an  ordinary  country  gentle- 


110  PATIENCE. 

man ;  and  the  letter  of  introduction  which  he 
brought  from  Patience  at  once  prepossessed  the 
boy  in  his  favor,  and  he  accepted  his  invitation 
to  take  a  little  stroll  in  the  park,  where  they 
could  converse  without  being  overheard. 

The  letter  which  the  Jesuit  wished  Wres- 
tling to  deliver  to  Raleigh  was,  he  assured  him, 
from  Sir  George  Carew,  and  was  apparently 
simply  one  of  friendly  sympathy,  but  between 
the  lines  directions  for  Raleigh's  escape  were 
invisibly  traced  in  milk.  "  If  this  letter  is 
stolen  or  taken  from  you  by  force,"  said  the 
Jesuit,  "  it  is  apparently  innocent,  and  you  run 
no  danger,  but  if  you  succeed  in  delivering  it 
you  must  manage  to  tell  Sir  Walter  secretly,  to 
hold  it  close  to  the  flame  of  a  candle,  and  the 
writing  will  appear,  the  milk  scorching  before 
the  paper.  Say  naught  of  my  coming  or  of  the 
letter  to  Lord  Rich  except  under  compulsion, 
for  we  cannot  take  too  many  precautions. 

"I  will  tell  you  the  entire  plan  of  the  rescue, 
for  it  may  be  that  you  may  be  left  with  Sir 
Walter  long  enough  to  explain  it  to  him,  even 
if  the  letter  is  taken  from  you.  Some  altera- 
tions are  to  be  made  in  his  cell,  and  he  will 
temporarily  be  removed  to  a  tower  over  the 
moat.  On  the  night  of  November  4th  his 
sentinel  will  be  drugged,  and  while  he  is 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.         Ill 

asleep  the  door  of  the  cell  will  be  unlocked 
by  another  sentry,  who  has  a  grudge  against 
the  sleeper,  and  will  be  only  too  glad  of  this 
opportunity  to  effect  his  disgrace.  This  man 
will  allow  Sir  Walter  to  slip  from  his  cell,  but 
will  not  risk  his  head  by  assisting  him  further. 
In  the  lower  story  of  the  tower  is  a  trap-door 
through  which  he  can  drop  into  the  moat.  He 
must  swim  to  the  tunnel  through  which  the 
moat  empties  into  the  Thames.  At  the  mouth 
of  the  tunnel  he  will  find  a  small  boat 
anchored,  by  which  he  can  cross  to  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  river,  where  Sir  George  Carew 
and  a  few  gentlemen  will  be  waiting  with 
horses  to  take  him  to  Prince  Henry  at  Kenil- 
worth.  The  window  of  his  new  cell  can  be 
seen  from  this  spot,  and  if  at  the  moment  he 
leaves  he  places  a  lighted  candle  at  its  grating 
his  friends  will  know  that  he  has  started  on 
his  perilous  journey,  and  will  on  their  side  dis- 
play a  lantern  at  the  spot  where  he  must  land." 
Wrestling  was  intensely  excited,  and  burned 
to  aid  in  Sir  Walter's  rescue.  The  Jesuit  had 
made  use  of  all  that  he  had  learned  from 
Patience  to  completely  gain  the  boy's  confi- 
dence, and  the  man's  discrimination  was  so 
acute  that  he  knew  he  could  safely  trust  him. 
In  after  years  Wrestling  could  never  believe  the 


112  PATIENCE. 

man  false ;  he  was  certain  that  they  had  been 
drawn  together  by  the  freemasonry  of  a  com- 
mon purpose  and  the  recognition  of  each 
other's  earnestness. 

In  return  for  the  confidence  reposed  in  him, 
Wrestling  told  the  Jesuit  of  his  errand  with 
Mr.  *Guido  Fawkes. 

The  priest  was  surprised  and  pleased.  "Go 
first  to  the  Tower  with  Lord  Bich,"  he  said, 
"  and  bring  the  horse  around  to  his  house  this 
afternoon.  I  will  be  there  waiting  for  you  to 
learn  how  you  have  prospered." 

As  they  parted  the  Jesuit  caught  his  hand. 
"One  more  precaution.  Tell  Sir  Walter  not 
to  set  out  unless  he  sees  the  lantern  displayed 
from  the  opposite  bank." 

"  How  will  he  tell  it  from  any  chance  light  ? " 
Wrestling  asked. 

"  Very  fortunately,"  replied  the  priest,  "the 
lantern  which  will  be  used  is  of  green  glass. 
It  is  one  Fawkes  brought  with  him  from  for- 
eign parts.  I  do  not  think  there  is  another  like 
it  in  London.  Sir  Walter  cannot  mistake  it. 
Let  him  wait  for  the  emerald  signal." 

The  Jesuit  lifted  his  hand  in  blessing  as  they 
parted,  and  Wrestling  returned  to  the  house  to 
wait  for  Lord  Rich,  who  presently  arrived  and 
took  him  to  the  Tower. 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        113 

A  shudder  ran  through  his  frame  when  the 
heavy  outer  gate  of  the  Tower  clanged  behind 
him,  as  they  passed  through  the  massive  gate 
lodge. 

Within  he  looked  about  him  curiously,  and 
Lord  Rich  pointed  out  the  different  buildings. 
The  central  enormous  square  keep,  called  the 
White  Tower,  and  sometimes  erroneously 
Caesar's  Tower,  was  built  by  William  the  Con- 
queror, and  greatly  interested  Wrestling.  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  was  confined  in  the  Bloody 
Tower,  a  name  of  evil  omen;  but,  excepting  that 
his  rooms  were  very  cold,  he  was  comfortably 
lodged,  and  was  allowed  occasionally  to  see 
friends.  They  were  obliged  to  wait  for  a  few 
minutes,  for  a  visitor  was  already  with  him. 

He  came  out  presently,  a  young  man  jauntily 
dressed,  but  holding  his  plumed  hat  in  front  of 
his  face,  as  though  desirous  of  escaping  recog- 
nition, but  on  catching  sight  of  Lord  Rich  he 
exclaimed :  "  You  here,  my  lord !  I  thought 
you  were  at  Cambridge." 

"  I  return  to  the  University  soon,"  replied 
Lord  Rich,  "  but  first  I  must  take  part  in  a 
tilting  at  Kenilworth." 

"  Well  found  !  Sir  Everard  Digby  was  telling 
me  of  that  tilting,  and  would  fain  have  an 
invitation  for  himself  and  friends.  Can  you 


114  PATIENCE. 

manage  it  for  him  ?  He  entertains  a  hunting 
party  after  the  hay  is  cut  somewhere  in  War- 
wickshire. I  will  see  that  you  are  invited  to 
it.  The  guests  are  all  members  of  Parlia- 
ment." 

"  But  Parliament  sits  on  the  5th.  You  must 
be  misinformed.  And  how  comes  it,  Tresham, 
that  I  find  you  here  ?  I  knew  not  that  you 
were  a  friend  of  Sir  Walter's." 

"  No  more  am  I,"  replied  the  other  sullenly, 
dropping  his  hat  and  showing  the  print  of  a 
slap,  red  upon  his  cheek.  "Do  you  see  that 
mark  ?  That  blow  will  cost  him  dear.  I  had 
my  rapier  half  out  of  its  sheath,  but  I  bethought 
me  in  time,  and  bowed  myself  out  politely. 
Cecil  has  him  in  his  claws.  I  need  not  trouble 
myself  to  teach  him  good  manners — no,  nor  to 
get  him  out,  since  he  is  so  fond  of  prison  that 
he  is  squeamish  as  to  his  method  of  exit.  The 
King  and  his  courtiers  must  come,  forsooth,  and 
beg  him  to  leave !  A  plague  on  him  and  on 
the  Tower !  It  gives  me  an  ague  to  enter  it. 
My  teeth  are  chattering  with  the  cold.  Let  him 
rot  here,  I  say  !  The  place  is  not  so  attractive 
that  I  shall  ever  darken  his  door  again." 

"  Now,  what  has  angered  Tresham,  I  wonder  ? " 
said  Lord  Rich  as  they  followed  the  jailer.  "  I 
am  glad  Sir  Walter  likes  him  not,  for  he  is  not 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        115 

a  man  to  be  trusted.  And  what  the  deuce  did 
he  mean  by  saying  the  htint  would  take  place 
after  the  hay  is  cut?  Why,  here  we  are  in 
November,  and  it  was  cut  long  ago  ! " 

Wrestling  hardly  noticed  this  remark  at  the 
time,  for  a  moment  later  they  were  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

He  sat  beside  a  table  littered  with  papers, 
and  books  were  piled  on  chests  and  upon  the 
floor.  His  dress,  which  in  his  days  of  prosperity 
was  always  elegant  in  the  extreme,  was  plain, 
but  in  perfect  order — the  small  ruff  spotlessly 
clean,  his  beard  trimmed,  and  all  his  clothing 
carefully  brushed,  and  every  lacing  tied  with 
as  scrupulous  care  as  if  he  were  still  in  the 
public  eye.  Punctiliousness  was  evidently  the 
second  nature  of  the  man,  but  so  thoroughly 
habit  that  he  gave  it  no  thought,  his  mind 
while  dressing  being  occupied  with  more  im- 
portant matters. 

His  attitude  now  was  one  of  deep  absorp- 
tion in  his  work,  which  he  had  attacked  with 
feverish  haste  as  soon  as  Tresham's  unwelcome 
interruption  was  over.  He  did  not  at  first 
notice  the  entrance  of  other  guests,  and  on  hear- 
ing Lord  Rich's  greeting  threw  back  his  head 
with  a  gesture  of  impatience ;  but  on  recogniz- 
ing his  visitor  a  smile  of  rare  sweetness  illumined 


116  PATIENCE. 

his  grave  face,  and  lie  sprang  to  his  feet  and 
extended  his  hand  with  courtly  grace. 

There  were  but  two  chairs  in  the  room,  and 
Wrestling  stood  respectfully  until  Sir  Walter 
waved  him  to  a  chest,  where  he  squeezed  him- 
self between  a  geographical  globe  and  a  pile  of 
great  volumes.  The  two  gentlemen  fell  to 
earnest  conversation,  and  Wrestling,  who  was 
simply  a  listener,  drank  in  everything  they  said 
as  a  thirsty  soil  drinks  in  the  rain. 

They  spoke  of  the  New  World,  to  which 
Raleigh  longed  to  return.  He  believed  in  the 
existence  of  the  fabled  El  Dorado  somewhere 
on  the  Orinoco,  and  hoped  soon  under  the 
patronage  of  Prince  Henry  to  lead  an  expedi- 
tion to  its  gold  mines,  guarded  by  dog-headed 
men. 

Lord  Rich  was  most  interested,  and  they  bent 
together  over  maps  and  discussed  projects  of 
exploration  and  colonization. 

"  With  your  spirit  fired  with  such  high  en- 
terprises," said  the  younger  nobleman,  "I  see 
not  how  you  can  have  patience  to  bear  this 
present  grievous  confinement." 

"  It  is  not  grievous.  I  am  rendering  myself 
immortal.  I  am  engaged  on  a  work  so  vast 
(my  '  History  of  the  World ')  that  I  shall  need 
to  spend  the  remainder  of  my  life  in  prison  to 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        117 

accomplish  it;  so  fascinating,  that  while  at  work 
upon  it  I  do  not  rniss  nay  freedom.  I  have, 
too,  another  great  happiness — my  wife  is  al- 
lowed to  visit  me  from  time  to  time.  I  see 
more  of  Bess  than,  when  the  world  called  us 
fortunate.  She  has  taken  rooms  on  Tower  Hill, 
and  devotes  herself  to  ministering  to  me.  Hers 
is  a  heroic  heart,  whose  depth  of  devotion  I 
might  never  have  known  had  it  not  been  thus 
cruelly  tried." 

"  Even  so,"  replied  Lord  Rich.  "  I  cannot 
understand  how  the  thought  that  you  are  lying 
under  sentence  of  death,  and  may  at  any  mo- 
ment be  summoned  to  your  death,  can  be  en- 
dured with  such  equanimity.  The  uncertainty 
and  helplessness  would  drive  me  mad." 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  Raleigh  replied  with  a 
sweet  smile,  "the  world  itself  is  but  a  larger 
prison,  from  which  every  human  being  may  at 
any  moment  be  ordered  to  execution.  You, 
too,  are  under  sentence  of  death,  and  are  as  un- 
certain as  to  the  date,  and  as  helpless  to  resist 
it,  as  I ;  arid  yet  that  is  no  reason  why  you 
should  not  be  cheerful,  or  strive  to  fill  in  your 
time  to  the  best  advantage.  It  is  not  that  I 
fear  death  that  I  would  live  longer,  but  because 
life  is  still  full  of  zest  for  me.  There  are  prob- 
lems which  I  would  like  to  solve — I  would  love 


118  PATIENCE. 

to  plant  a  successful  colony  in  Virginia,  and  to 
conquer  Guiana  for  England.  On  my  last  voy- 
age I  talked  with  an  Indian,  whom  I  named 
Harry,  who  knew  for  a  certainty  the  situation 
of  El  Dorado,  and  he  will  guide  me  to  the  gold 
mines,  the  most  productive  in  the  world.  They 
are  in  the  interior  of  Guiana,  but  it  is  pos- 
sible to  approach  to  their  vicinity  on  the 
Orinoco." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  you  will  find  this 
Indian  again,  if  you  should  make  this  hazardous 
voyage  ? " 

"I  will  tell  you  a  secret,"  said  Raleigh — 
"  Harry  is  now  in  London." 

"  Verily ! " 

"He  was  captured  by  the  Spaniards  and 
taken  to  Spain,  but  he  liked  not  his  captors, 
and  had  a  strong  affection  for  me.  He  would 
tell  them  nothing  of  El  Dorado,  and  escaped 
from  the  Spanish  ships  at  the  Azores.  Here 
he  lingered  until  he  saw  a  ship  in  the  harbor 
flying  the  English  flag.  He  thought  for  a  cer- 
tainty that  I  must  be  on  board,  and  he  paddled 
out  to  it  in  a  canoe  which  he  had  stolen.  The 
only  English  words  which  he  could  repeat  were 
my  name  and  England.  SirFerdinando  Gorges 
was  in  command  and  brought  him  to  London  and 
to  me.  It  was  pitiful  to  see  his  joy,  and  much 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.         119 

more  so  his  sorrow  when  he  understood  that  I 
was  a  prisoner.  I  had  learned  his  language,  and 
we  talked  long  together.  He  promised  to  stay 
in  London  until  I  am  set  at  liberty.  '  But  how 
will  you  support  yourself  ? '  I  asked.  Then  the 
devoted  creature  told  me  that  the  managers  of 
the  Bear  Garden  had  offered  to  give  him  board 
and  lodging  for  the  privilege  of  exhibiting  him 
as  an  Indian  wonder.  You  can  see  him  there 
any  night.  He  fights  the  bear,  dances  and  per- 
forms feats  of  strength  and  agility,  all  for  love 
of  me,  waiting  for  the  time  when  we  can  sail 
together  for  El  Dorado.  He  will  tell  the  secret 

O 

of  the  mines  to  none  other.  I  could  make  my- 
self governor  of  those  lands  and  amass  untold 
wealth,  but  I  desire  only  to  pour  the  gold  into 
the  King's  exchequer  and  prevent  the  mines  be- 
ing seized  by  Spain." 

"  How  your  enemies  wronged  you,"  ex- 
claimed Lord  Rich,  "  when  they  tried  to  prove 
that  you  were  implicated  in  a  plot  against  the 
King!" 

Raleigh's  eye  glowed  angrily.  "  This  very 
morning,"  he  exclaimed,  smiting  the  table  with 
his  fist,  "  I  have  been  sounded  as  to  my  willing- 
ness to  engage  in  a  plot  against  the  King's  life  !  " 

"  It  is  more  than  likely,"  replied  Lord  Rich, 
"  that  there  is  no  plot,  and  the  emissary  was 


120  PATIENCE. 

sent  directly  from  the  King,  or  from  Cecil,  to 
implicate  you." 

"  Think  you  so.  ? "  asked  Kaleigh.  "  But  he 
showed  me  a  list  of  good  names  of  honest  gen- 
tlemen whom  I  know  well,  signed  to  an  oath 

'          O 

of  compact.  I  was  on  the  point  of  writing 
Prince  Henry." 

"  And  some  of  these  men  were  ? " 

"  Sir  Edward  Digby  and  Lord  Catesby." 

"  Catholic  malcontents  ;  still,  as  you  say,  hon- 
est gentlemen,  who  would  not  give  themselves 
to  such  villainy.  Trust  me,  that  if  you  report 
their  names  to  the  Prince  you  will  only  bring 
them  undeservedly  into  trouble.  That  is  a 
part  of  the  plot,  doubtless." 

"  But  I  cannot  implicate  them  without  also 
entangling  Tresham." 

"  There  is  more  than  Tresham  here  ;  he  is  but 
Cecil's  tool,  for  whose  safety  his  master  cares 
not,  so  he  can  strike  a  blow  at  thee  and  the 
Papists  as  well." 

"  Now,  I  mind  me,  the  names  were  not  all 
those  of  Catholics ;  there  were  some  good  Puri- 
tans also." 

"  And,  as  such,  enemies  against  Cecil.  Why, 
man,  it  stands  to  reason,  these  divers  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men  would  never  consort  together 
for  any  purpose,  much  less  for  aught  so  danger- 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        121 

ous  and  secret  as  such  a  plot  as  this.  Thy 
friendship  with  Prince  Henry  is  known,  and 
Cecil  counts  on  thy  ruining  all  these  good  gen- 
tlemen by  reporting  them  to  him  as  assassins." 

"  'Sdeath  !  Thou  art  right.  Let  Cecil  do 
his  own  informing ;  I  will  be  no  party  to  it,  and 
I  will  balk  him  yet.  The  treasury  is  empty — 
even  the  confiscation  of  the  estates  of  the  Cath- 
olics cannot  fill  it.  I  alone  have  the  knowledge 
of  the  gold  mines  of  El  Dorado.  The  King 
loves  me  not,  but  you  will  see  he  will  yet  set 
me  free.  I  am  too  valuable  to  be  slain." 

At  this  point  Raleigh's  glance  fell  upon 
Wrestling,  and  he  asked,  "  What  is  the  name  of 
this  goodly  youth  ?  " 

"  Wrestling  Brewster,  at  your  service,  my 
lord,"  the  lad  replied. 

"  Art  thou  the  son  of  that  Brewster  who  was 
secretary  to  my  friend  Sir  William  Davison  ?  " 

"The  same,  my  lord." 

"  I  knew  him  well.  He  had  the  parts  of  a 
statesman,  and  many  of  Davison's  master 
strokes  were  doubtless  conceived  by  him.  But 
he  never  learned  finesse,  that  part  of  statecraft 
which  demands  double-dealing,  and  he  could 
never  abide  cruelty.  He  had  no  sympathy  for 
the  cause  which  Mary  Stuart  represented,  but 
he  would  have  saved  her  from  death  had  it 


122  .       PATIENCE. 

been  in  his  power.  I  read  his  letter  to  her 
Grace.  It  was  writ  with  a  pretty  pen  and  an 
untramineled  spirit. 

"Our  good  Queen  Elizabeth  of  sainted  mem- 
ory was  a  woman  after  all,  and  at  times  un- 
reasonable ;  but  Davison  held  his  head  proudly, 
for  he  knew  he  was  in  the  right,  and  thy  father 
couched  Davison's  bold  words  in  most  courteous 
language.  By  the  rood,  it  was  the  hand  of 
steel  in  a  velvet  glove !  But  our  virgin  Queen 
would  not  brook  being  withstood,  and  Davi- 
son fell  from  favor.  Thy  father  stood  by  his 
patron  when  he  was  in  disgrace,  and  lost  every 
opportunity  for  his  own  advancement  in  mov- 
ing heaven  and  earth  in  behalf  of  Davison. 
Tresham  tells  me  that  he  heads  the  Puritan 
party  in  the  north  ;  stay,  his  name  was  on  that 
paper  Tresham  showed  me.  Here  is  an  op- 
portunity to  know  whether  it  is  truly  a  plot  of 
the  Puritans  and  Papists,  or  only  a  trap  of 
Cecil's.  Dost  know  aught  of  this,  my  lad  ?  Did 
thy  father  intrust  thee  with  any  message  to 
me?" 

"  He  bade  me  tell  you,  honored  sir,  how 
much  you  have  won  the  hearts  of  those  of  our 
faith  by  your  patient  endurance  of  your  suffer- 
ings, from  which  he  prays  you  may  have  speedy 
deliverance.  His  own  thoughts  have  been 

O 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        123 

turned  toward  the  new  world  beyond  the  seas, 
and  were  it  not  that  we  still  wait  for  justice  for 
the  accession  of  Prince  Henry,  a  large  body  of 
Puritans  would  emigrate  to  Virginia." 

Raleigh  looked  at  Lord  Rich  significantly. 
"  That  has  not  the  same  temper  as  the  paper 
which  Tresham  showed  me.  It  was  a  vile  for- 
gery, without  doubt.  I  would  thou  hadst  been 
here,  my  lad,  to  have  told  me  whether  that  was 
thy  father's  signature  or  not.  There  were  other 
names  following  thy  father's  which  Tresham 
told  me  were  those  of  prominent  Puritans.  I 
will  name  those  I  remember.  There  was  one 
John  Robinson.  Is  he  a  dangerous  fanatic  who 
would  incite  his  hearers  to  insurrection  and  re- 
volution ? " 

Lord  Rich  laughed  aloud.  "I  have  heard 
him  preach.  He  counseled  his  flock  to  depart 
in  peace." 

"  So  doth  he  ever,"  said  Wrestling. 

"  And  Thomas  Dudley,  is  he  an  inordinately 
ambitious  and  discontented  man  plotting  deep 
schemes  for  his  own  advancement  like  the  sons 
of  Northumberland  ? " 

Again  Lord  Rich  laughed.  "  He  is  a  most  de- 
voted friend  and  wise  business  agent  to  the 
Earl  of  Lincoln,  a  sober  and  calm  thinker  and 
speaker,  and  a  loyal  subject." 


124  PATIENCE. 

"  Captain  Dudley,"  said  Wrestling,  "  hath  no 
time  for  ambition,  and  he  hath  such  a  sweet 
family  that  he  could  not  be  discontented. 
And  then,  first  of  all,"  the  boy  added,  "  he  is 
a  shrewd  and  cautious  business  man.  He 
would  never  embark  in  any  undertaking  with- 
out counting  the  cost  in  hard  silver.  His 
adversaries  have  never  been  able  to  get  the 
better  of  him  in  a  bargain,  though  he  is  honest 
to  the  last  penny.  Some  of  the  Earl's  tenants, 
hearing  that  he  would  not  look  over  accounts  or 
do  business  on  the  Lord's  Day,  came  from  a  dis- 
tance on  the  Sabbath  to  pay  a  large  sum  of 
money,  intending  to  discredit  him  with  the  Earl 
if  he  let  them  go  away  with  it.  But  Captain 
Dudley  saw  through  their  device,  and  caused 
them  to  be  shown  into  his  office,  and  told  them 
to  count  out  the  gold,  for  he  would  see  them 
presently.  He  waited  until  they  had  so  done, 
when  he  entered  the  room  with  a  servant,  who, 
while  his  master  was  greeting  the  men,  locked 
the  bags  of  gold  in  the  great  treasure  chest. 
Which  done,  the  Captain  bade  them  come  on 
the  morrow  for  their  receipt,  or  remain  where 
they  were  to  watch  the  chest  if  they  had  ill 
suspicions,  as  he  would  sign  no  papers  on 
the  Sabbath.  Judge  if  a  man  combining  such 
shrewdness  with  principle  is  likely  to  under- 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        125 

take  of  his  own  accord,  or  be  inveigled  into,  dia- 
bolical and  murderous  plots." 

"  It  is  impossible,"  Sir  Walter  admitted ;  "  but 
bid  him  look  to  himself,  for  there  are  those 
plotting  against  him." 

"  And  now,  my  lord,"  said  Wrestling,  for  he 
saw  that  he  was  likely  to  have  no  opportunity 
of  seeing  Raleigh  alone,  "  though  I  have 
brought  no  written  message  from  my  father 
or  the  Puritans,  yet  have  I  a  message  of  an- 
other sort  for  thee  from  thy  friend  Sir  George 
Carew."  And  he  took  the  letter  which  the 
Jesuit  had  given  him  from  his  pocket  and 
handed  it  to  Sir  Walter. 

"  How  earnest  thou  by  that  letter  ? "  asked 
Lord  Rich,  looking  at  Wrestling  keenly. 

"  In  a  way  it  was  from  thy  lady  mother," 
replied  Wrestling,  "for  Patience  Dudley  sent 
it  to  me  from  Warwick,  and  she  wrote  that 
both  she  and  Lady  Rich  were  visiting  at  my 
Lord  Carew's." 

"  'Tis  true,"  Lord  Rich  replied ;  "  my  mother 
told  me  she  was  going  to  Cloptori  House  to 
see  Lady  Carew,  who  is  an  old  friend  of  hers." 

"  And  Sir  George  is  my  best  friend.  I  have 
named  my  son  for  him.  We  were  the  best  of 
comrades  in  Ireland,  and  Lady  Joyce  has  be- 
friended my  poor  Bess."  Raleigh  opened  the 


126  PATIENCE. 

letter  and  read  it  wonderingly.  "  There  is 
naught  here  of  any  import,"  he  said. 

"  Perhaps  there  is  more  than  appears,  my 
lord,"  said  Wrestling.  "  It  would  be  well  after 
we  are  .gone  to  burn  the  letter,  but  before  it 
is  wholly  consumed 

"I  catch  thy  meaning — but,  stay,  is  this  of 
a  piece  with  Tresham's  business  ? " 

"  Trust  me,  it  is  not,  my  lord.  I  know  not 
this  Tresham,  and  this  letter  came  as  I  have 
said.  I  know  the  handwriting  of  Patience 
Dudley,  and  I  know,  too,  that  she  cannot  lie. 
The  matter  which  you  will  find  writ  between 
the  lines  you  may  rely  upon.  I  will  answer 
for  it  with  my  life." 

"  And  I  know  the  writing  of  George  Carew," 
said  Raleigh ;  "  this  is  surely  his,  and  the  letter 
was  sealed  with  his  seal.  He,  too,  would 
never  lie.  I  will  trust  it,  my  boy,  whatever  be 
the  contents,  if  you  can  tell  me  that  you  know 
them,  for  your  face  is  one  to  be  trusted." 

Wrestling  fell  on  his  knees  and  lifted 
Raleigh's  hand  to  his  lips.  "  I  know  what  it 
says,  my  lord,  and  Patience  knows  and  your 
friends  in  Warwickshire.  It  is  Prince  Henry's 
plan,  though  my  Lord  Carew  will  execute  it. 
But  stir  not  unless  the  light  displayed  is 
green." 


PLOTS  AND    COUNTERPLOTS.        127 

"Read  it,  oiy  lord,"  Lord  Rich  begged. 
"  Let  me  also  have  a  hand  in  the  matter." 

"  Nay,  not  yet.  It  were  better  that  you 
should  be  able  to  say  that  you  know  naught  of 
it,  as  Carew  evidently  intended,  or  he  would 
have  confided  in  you.  Ah !  here  comes  my 
good  friend,  the  keeper.  It  seems  our  inter- 
view has  lasted  too  long.  Farewell ;  and  thou, 
my  boy,  if  ever  I  sail  for  El  Dorado  I'll  take 
thee  for  my  cabin  boy,  for  thou  hast  a  brave 
spirit,  and  I  believe  couldst  never  betray  thy 
captain." 

Wrestling  went  out  with  his  heart  in  a 
tumult  of  emotion. 

"  And  such  a  man  is  imprisoned  under  sen- 
tence of  death  ! "  he  cried.  "  I  would  give  my 
life  to  liberate  him." 

"  Silence,"  said  Lord  Rich  warningly,  "  or  you 
may  give  it  to  no  purpose,  and  mine,  too,  for 
which  I  have  even  more  concern." 

They  parted  outside  the  Tower,  for  Lord 
Rich  and  Bradstreet  were  to  ride  to  Warwick 
to  attend  the  tilting  at  Kenilworth,  after 
which  they  would  return  to  Cambridge. 
Wrestling  was  to  start  for  borne,  riding  by 
post  that  afternoon,  but  first  he  had  to  return 
Guy  Fawkes'  horse,  and  it  was  in  doing  this 
errand  that  a  remarkable  adventure  befell  him. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE    GUNPOWDER    PLOT    AND    CERTAIN    OTHER 
MATTERS. 

"  Remember,  remember  the  fifth  of  November, 

Remember  the  Gunpowder  Plot; 
I  see  no  reason  why  Gunpowder  Treason 
Should  ever  be  forgot." 

HILIPPA     had    told 
Wrestling     that     he 
would  find  her  father 
at  Mr.  Percy's  house, 
next    to    the    Parlia- 
ment buildings.     But 
as  these  were  veiy  exten- 
sive, he  rode  quite  around 
them     before    discovering 
the  right  house. 

As  he  approached  he 
saw  the  Jesuit  enter,  and 
he  gave  the  horse  into  the  care  of  a  boy 
who  was  waiting  in  front  of  the  Parliament 
House  for  such  employment,  and  knocked  at 
the  door.  The  Jesuit  opened  it,  and  led  him 

128 


THE  GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  129 

into  a  small  reception  room  at  the  left  of  the 
hall,  where  he  listened  eagerly  to  Wrestling's 
account  of  his  performance  of  his  errand. 

"  You  have  done  well,"  he  said  approvingly, 
"  and  may  congratulate  yourself  that  you  have 
helped  to  rescue  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  that  you 
have  indeed  been  one  of  the  links  in  the  chain 
without  which  the  rescue  could  not  have  been 
accomplished." 

Wrestling's  face  flushed  with  pleasure. 
"  Oh,  sir !  if  I  might  only  see  the  rescue,  and  be 
with  the  party  when  Sir  Walter  joins  it.  If 
I  could  do  nothing  more  than  swing  the  lan- 
tern, it  would  be  a  joy  and  a  privilege  to  be 
remembered  all  my  life." 

The  Jesuit  looked  at  the  lad  with  real  affec- 
tion. 

"Nay,  my  son,  this  is  a  task  for  men.  It 
were  better  for  thee  to  be  miles  away  when 
that  rendezvous  takes  place.  There  may  be 
wild  work,  as  there  is  certain  to  be  rough  riding 
that  night.  Go  back  to  thy  home,  with  the 
blessing  of  Father  Green  way,"  and  he  made  the 
sign  of  the  cross  above  Wrestling's  head. 

"  I  have  brought  Mr.  Fawkes  his  horse,"  said 
Wrestling.  "  Is  he  at  home  ? " 

"  He  will  need  it  for  that  long  ride  after  the 
hay  is  cut,  and  he  will  be  in  presently,"  replied 


130  PATIENCE. 

the  Jesuit.    "  I  am  going  to  him,  and  will  tell 
him  that  you  await  him  here." 

Wrestling  wondered  at  the  repetition  of  this 
strange  phrase, "  when  the  hay  is  cut."  He  waited 
a  long  time,  but  no  one  came ;  and  as  he  had 
nothing  better  to  do  he  took  particular  notice 
of  everything  in  the  room.  The  first  thing 
which  impressed  itself  upon  his  consciousness 
was  the  dust.  It  covered  everything :  the 
chairs,  the  table,  the  fireplace, — in  which  there 
was  no  fire,  nor  even  wood,  though  the  weather 
was  cold, — and  it  was  so  thick  upon  the  window 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  see  through 
it.  His  first  thought  was  that  it  looked  like  a 
house  that  had  been  long  unoccupied,  and  that 
neither  Philippa  nor  any  other  woman  could  be 
here,  or  she  would  have  kept  it  in  better  order. 
It  was  very  desolate  and  cheerless.  On  the 
table  stood  an  empty  bottle  and  two  dirty 
glasses,  and  beside  them  a  folded  paper,  which 
for  some  reason  which  he  could  not  explain  had 
a  familiar  aspect.  It  was  written  over  with 
names,  signed  one  after  another  in  a  long 
column,  and  as  he  looked  he  fancied  that  he 
recognized  his  father's.  Suddenly  he  thought 
of  the  paper  of  which  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  had 
spoken,  and  he  seized  document  and  examined 
it  closely. 


TjW 

•    ;» 


SIR  WALTER   RALEIGH. 


THE  GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  131 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  do  heartily  approve 
and  indorse  all  that  Mr.  Guido  Fawkes  and  his 
comrades  have  done  or  may  do  in  the  removal 
of  King  James  and  his  parliament,  to  the  end 
that  he  whose  right  it  is  may  rule  and  persecu- 
tions be  at  an  end." 

This  must  be  the  diabolical  compact  which 
had  so  roused  Sir  Walter's  indignation.  It 
was  signed  by  the  names  he  had  mentioned ; 
and  here  was  his  father's, — no  forgery,  but  his 
own  peculiar  and  well-known  autograph.  For 
a  moment  the  boy's  heart  stood  still  with 
horror,  as  he  saw  before  him  the  evidence  that 
his  dearly  loved  and  honored  father  was  an 
anarchist  and  a  felon.  Then  came  as  violent  a 
reaction,  as  he  remembered  Lord  Rich's  reason- 
ing on  the  case,  and  he  sought  for  some  indica- 
tion that  this  was  the  work  of  a  traitor.  It 
came  overwhelmingly.  The  signatures  of  John 
Robinson,  John  Bradford,  Thomas  Dudley,  and 
many  others  with  whose  peculiarities  Wrestling 
was  familiar  were  all  genuine,  but  they  were 
on  a  piece  of  paper  which  had  been  cleverly 
pasted  onto  the  compact  itself,  and  the  convic- 
tion burst  upon  him  with  a  flash  that  this  was 
the  page  which  had  been  torn  from  the  church 
record  in  his  father's  desk  which  contained  the 
signatures  of  the  members  of  the  Puritan 


132  PATIENCE. 

church  at  Scrooby.  Wrestling  put  the  paper 
in  his  pocket,  his  first  impulse  being  to  flee  with 
it,  but  a  cool  audacity  which  ever  grew  within 
him  when  he  was  in  danger,  prompted  him  to 
probe  this  business  still  further.  In  what  way 
was  Guido  Fawkes  going  to  "  remove  "  the  King, 
and  to  what  place  was  he  to  be  removed  ? 
Philippa  had  said  that  they  were  soon  to  sail 
to  a  foreign  country.  This  strange,  lonely 
house  was  on  the  water  side ;  was  the  King  to  be 
kidnaped  and  carried  into  Spain,  and  the  deed 
laid  to  the  door  of  the  Puritans  and  Raleigh, 
who  were  known  to  desire  the  succession  of 
Prince  Henry  ? 

He  determined  to  explore  the  house  and  dis- 
cover what  was  going  on  within  it.  Accord- 
ingly he  mounted  to  the  second  story,  which 
contained  only  two  rooms,  a  bedroom  and 
another  nearly  filled  with  earth.  This  seemed 
to  him  very  remarkable,  and  he  could  think  of 
no  possible  use  for  all  this  clayey  soil  emptied 
into  a  good  room.  It  could  not  be  the  inten- 
tion of  the  owner  to  change  it  into  a  conserva- 
tory, or  to  cultivate  any  sort  of  plant  here,  for 
the  room  was  too  dark.  In  the  bed-room  a 
valise  was  packed  and  strapped,  as  though 
ready  for  travel,  and  a  long  cloak  and  slouched 
hat  hung  upon  the  wall,  but  there  was  no  other 


THE  GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  133 

clothing.  It  seemed  to  be  a  room  used  merely 
for  the  moment,  rather  than  as  a  habitual  resi- 
dence. Indeed,  the  entire  house  had  this  air. 
The  dining  room  back  of  the  reception  room 
was  unfurnished,  and  had  evidently  not  been 
recently  used.  Mr.  Fawkes  must  take  his 
meals  outside  at  some  coffee-house.  There 
remained  only  the  cellars  to  be  explored,  and 
Wrestling  started  down  with  some  misgivings. 
It  was  midday,  and  a  little  light  shone  in 
through  a  window  near  the  first  floor.  At  the 
foot  of  the  stairs  a  strange  sight  met  the  boy's 
astonished  gaze.  A  tunnel  had  been  dug  from 
the  cellar  toward  the  Parliament  House.  It 
was  evident  now  that  the  earth  had  been 
carried  to  the  upper  room  after  the  cellar  itself 
contained  no  more  room  for  it.  Pickaxes, 
shovels,  baskets,  and  a  barrow  lay  on  the 
ground,  and  a  lantern  swung  from  the  rafters. 
The  miners  had  ceased  operations  after  encoun- 
tering a  stone  wall,  through  which  they  had 
partly  penetrated. 

Even  now  Wrestling  did  not  entirely  com- 
prehend what  this  meant.  He  was  possessed 
with  the  notion  that  the  tunnel  had  been  dug 
as  a  passage  through  which  to  spirit  away  the 
King,  and  had  no  idea  of  the  intention  of  the 
conspirators  to  blow  up  Parliament  while  it 


134  PATIENCE. 

was  in  session.  Still  he  knew  enough  to  be 
certain  that  here  was  a  great  villainy,  and  that 
it  was  his  duty  to  disclose  it.  If  he  could  only 
have  the  benefit  of  Sir  Walter's  advice,  but  he 
was  locked  in  that  dreadful  Tower,  and  Lord 
Rich  and  Master  Bradstreet  were  on  their  way 
to  Warwick.  Perhaps  he  could  overtake  them. 
He  sprang  toward  the  outer  door — and  ran 
straight  into  the  arms  of  Mr.  Guido  Fawkes. 

This  gentleman  pushed  Wrestling  from  him 
so  violently  that  the  boy  fell  backward, 
striking  the  back  of  his  head  on  the  hard  floor. 
Fawkes  locked  the  street  door,  then  turned 
and  commanded  Wrestling  to  get  up.  He  did 
so  painfully,  for  he  was  still  dazed  with  his 
fall. 

"  I  see  you  have  brought  my  horse,"  said 
Fawkes;  "it  was  an  honest  act.  Why  were 
you  in  such  haste  to  leave  my  house?  You 
need  not  answer.  You  have  been  prying 
about,  and  think  you  have  discovered  some 
mighty  secret.  Well,  since  you  know  too 
much,  you  shall  know  more.  You  know  too 
much  for  an  outsider,  and  we  need  more  help 
inside.  I  liked  you  when  I  saw  you  in  Sher- 
wood Forest,  and  Father  Green  way  believes  in 
you.  You  were  good  to  us,  and  I  will  repay 
your  kindness.  You  shall  be  one  of  us.  You 


THE   GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  135 

have  as  much  cause  to  hate  King  James  as  we 
have.     Frankly,  then,  when  we  have  done  our 
business  there  will  be  no  King  James." 
Wrestling  shuddered. 

O 

"If  he  died  of  accident,  and  Prince  Henry 
were  made  King,  thou  wouldst  rejoice— 

"  Accident  ?     But  you  mean  to  murder  him." 

"  Nay,  boy ;  but  I  will  murder  thee  if  thou 
turnest  traitor.  My  hand  shall  not  touch  the 
King,  I  promise  thee  that.  I  will  neither  stab, 
shoot,  nor  poison  him.  Art  thou  content  ?  No, 
nor  contrive  his  death  by  drowning,  starving, 
hanging,  nor  by  the  hand  of  any  other  mortal 
man.  He  shall  be  struck  by  an  unseen  power, 
and  we 'shall  be  miles  away  when  he  dies." 

Wrestling  was  not  satisfied,  but  he  saw  that 
he  must  feign  acquiescence  or  be  killed,  and  he 
submitted  with  as  good  grace  as  he  could 
command. 

"  Now  come  with  me,"  said  Fawkes.  "  There 
is  work  to  be  done.  Thou  hast  come  oppor- 
tunely. Fetch  up  the  barrow  from  the  cellar. 
We  must  unload  the  barge  that  thou  seest  at 
the  landing.  I  have  turned  wine  merchant,  and 
have  rented  a  cellar  under  the  Parliament 
House  in  which  to  store  my  spirits.  Nay,  look 
not  for  the  horse  ;  I  sent  the  boy  with  it  to  the 
stables  ere  I  came  in." 


136  PATIENCE. 

He  led  Wrestling  to  a  small  barge  fastened 
to  the  wharf,  and  together  they  put  on  shore  a 
large  quantity  of  kegs.  They  worked  the  en- 
tire afternoon  in  unlading  the  barge. 

"  We  will  dine  now  and  rest  a  while,"  said 
Fawkes,  "  and  store  them  afterward." 

They  went  into  the  house  and  washed  their 
hands,  and  while  there  the  man  Percy  that 
Wrestling  had  seen  tampering  with  his  father's 
papers  came  in.  He  did  not  recognize  Wres- 
tling, though  he  asked  suspiciously  who  he  was. 

"  A  friend,"  Fawkes  replied ;  and  they  went 
out  together  to  a  low  restaurant  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Wrestling  kept  his  eyes  open  for  a 
chance  to  run  away,  but  none  offered,  and  he 
determined  to  improve  the  situation  by  learning 
as  much  as  he  could  of  the  conspiracy.  Other 
men  joined  the  two,  and  Wrestling,  eating  at  a 
table  at  a  little  distance,  listened  with  all  his 
ears. 

"Parliament  will  convene  day  after  to-mor- 
row," said  Fawkes.  "  Is  all  ready?" 

"  Not  quite,"  replied  Percy.  "  You  were  al- 
ways in  such  a  hurry,  Fawkes.  There  is  more 
to  be  done  than  simply  to  touch  the  match.  In 
the  first  place,  what  has  been  done  to  save  the 
Catholic  members  of  Parliament  from  destruc- 
tion with  the  rest  ? " 


THE  GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  137 

"  Sir  Everard  Digby  has  planned  all  that," 
replied  Fawkes.  "  He  has  invited  them  to  a 
great  hunting  party  in  Warwickshire." 

"  The  rendezvous,  I  suppose,  is  at  nay  Lord 
Catesby's  at  Dunchurch  ? " 

"  Not  at  all.  We  do  not  want  to  have  any- 
thing suspicious  going  on  there.  The  guests 
will  meet  at  Clopton  House,  Carew's  place." 

"  But,  Fawkes,  Carew  is  not  in  the  plot." 

Wrestling  pricked  his  ears  still  more  in- 
tensely, while  feigning  to  have  fallen  asleep. 
What  he  most  desired  to  know  was  whether  this 
diabolical  plot  to  murder  the  King  had  any  con- 
nection with  the  Jesuits'  scheme  to  release  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh.  The  mention  of  Carew  as  hav- 

•j 

ing  no  part  in  the  former  made  him  hope  that 
the  two  plans  were  entirely  distinct ;  but  he 
was  not  long  allowed  to  cherish  this  illusion. 

"  That  is  where  the  genius  of  our  friend  the 
Jesuit  shows  itself,"  said  Fawkes.  "He  was 
here  to-day.  'Tis  a  long  head.  Carew  is 
known  to  be  loyal  to  the  King,  and  is  now  at- 
tending him.  His  house  will  not  be  suspected. 
Rokewood  has  hired  it  for  the  hunting  season, 
and  has  his  horses  there  ready  for  the  next 
move,  while  the  Jesuit  has  established  himself 
in  a  secret  chamber.  Most  fortunately,  there  is 
a  Catholic  chapel  in  the  house,  properly  conse- 


138  PATIENCE. 

crated,  and  here  the  Jesuit  will  confess  all  the 
gentlemen  who  engage  in  the  enterprise.  There 
is  to  be  a  tilting  at  Kenilworth  on  the  very 
evening  after  our  coup  d'etat.  Invitation  cards 
will  be  obtained  for  all  our  party.  As  soon  as 
the  hay  is  cut  you  will  all  gallop  to  Warwick, 
and  carry  the  news  to  Clopton  House,  where 
you  will  change  horses,  and,  joined  by  the 
Catholic  members  of  Parliament,  will  ride  on  to 
Kenilworth.  There  the  cards  of  invitation  will 
admit  to  the  castle,  which  you  will  hold;  and, 
entering  the  hall  of  revels,  the  party  will  sur- 
round the  royal  family  and  proclaim  Prince 
Charles  King.  King  Henry  will  have  perished 
with  his  father.  The  deed  will  be  laid  to  the 
Puritans." 

"  But  our  party  will  not  be  strong  enough  to 
hold  the  castle.  Why,  man,  all  the  nobility  of 
the  country  round  will  be  there  at  the  tilting  ! " 

"  Nay ;  Parliament  having  convened,  it  will  be 
sparsely  attended.  It  is  rather  a  rehearsal  of 
the  revels  to  take  place  at  Christmas  time  at 
Whitehall  than  aught  else.  The  ladies-in-wait- 
ing and  a  few  country  gentlemen,  with  a  hand- 
ful of  young  men  who  take  part  in  the  sports, 
make  up  the  company.  These  can  be  easily 
overpowered.  Besides,  the  Jesuit  has  had 
promise  if  the  signature  of  Sir  Fulke  Greville, 


THE  GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  139 

who  commands  the  garrison  at  Warwick,  can  be 
obtained,  he  will  forge  an  order  for  the  cavalry- 
men to  proceed  to  Kenilworth  under  the  com- 
mand of  my  Lord  Digby.  Now,  what  more  is 
to  be  done  ?  Parliament  convenes  on  the  5th ; 
at  noon  precisely  the  bolt  shall  fall." 

"  You  ask  what  more  is  to  be  done ;  know 
you  not  that  Tresham  failed  utterly  with  Sir 
"Walter  ?  He  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
scheme." 

"I  know  it,  Percy.  Tresham  came  to  my 
house  and  threw  down  the  compact  in  a  pretty 
temper,  saying  we  must  forge  Sir  Walter's 
signature.  He  is  too  sly  a  fox;  he  will  not 
show  his  head  from  his  earth.  He  evidently 
suspects  the  truth,  that  we  merely  wish  to  impli- 
cate him  and  his  friends  in  the  plot,  and  have 
no  intention  of  liberating  him.  But  the  Jesuit 
has  sent  another  messenger,  whom  he  will 
trust." 

"  Who  is  it  ? " 

"  That  lad  who  sits  yonder  asleep.  The 
priest  forged  a  letter  from  Sir  George 
Carew  and  sent  it  in  after  Tresham  failed  so 
vilely ;  and  our  trout  rose  to  that  bait.  At  mid- 
night of  the  4th  he  will  escape.  He  will  an- 
swer our  signals,  will  come  to  us ;  and  we  will 
bring  him  to  my  house  and  lock  him  in 


140  PA  TIENCK 

cellar,  where  he  will  be  found  after  the  explo- 
sion. Then  let  him  explain  his  complicity  if 
he  can.  He  will  be  supposed  to  have  done  or 
authorized  the  deed,  and  to  be  in  hiding." 

"  A  complicated  scheme,  but  it  will  be  enough 
if  he  attempts  to  escape.  Should  he  be  arrested 
before  we  succeed  in  bagging  him  we  would  be 
almost  as  well  served.  Why  should  we  trouble 
ourselves  to  meet  him  ?  " 

"  He  is  too  wily  to  start  unless  the  signal  is 
displayed,  a  lantern  swung  up  and  down  and 
transversely." 

"  H'm !  He  shall  have  the  signal ;  I  myself 
will  give  it.  Shall  you  get  in  all  the  powder 
to-night  ? " 

"  I  think  so,  with  the  help  of  this  fellow's 
strong  arms.  Come,  wake  up,  thou  lazy  fellow ; 
there  is  work  to  be  done." 

Wrestling,  horrified  though  he  was  by  what 
he  had  heard,  did  not  lose  his  self-possession. 
"  Work  to  be  done  ?  "  he  echoed.  "  Aye,  aye,  sir, 
and  I  am  the  lad  to  do  it."  The  work  for  him 
to  do  was  to  ascertain  exactly  what  was 
schemed,  and  prevent  the  execution  of  the  plot 
by  informing  upon  the  conspirators.  He 
yawned  and  stretched  himself  with  an  affecta- 
tion of  sleepiness,  and  then  stumbled  out  of  the 
house  after  Guy  Fawkes,  who  led  him  first  to 


THE  GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  141 

the  stable,  where  he  fed  the  horse.  Wrestling 
took  particular  note  of  its  situation,  for  this 
horse  must  bear  him  swiftly  at  the  proper 
moment,  and  then  followed  his  new  master  to 
the  wharf,  where  they  labored  until  nearly 
morning,  transferring  the  kegs  by  means  of 
the  wheelbarrow  to  a  cellar  or  basement  of  the 
Parliament  House,  directly  under  the  House  of 
Peers.  Wrestling  knew  now  that  these  kegs 
contained  gunpowder,  for  as  fast  as  they  were 
placed  in  the  cellar  Guy  Fawkes  loosened  their 
heads  in  order  that  they  might  more  readily 
catch  fire.  About  two  tons  were  removed  that 
night  and  covered  lightly  with  cord-wood. 
"  My  winter's  firing,"  as  Guy  Fawkes  explained. 
About  three  in  the  morning  they  returned  to 
Percy's  house  and  retired.  They  were  alone  in 
the  house,  and  Guy  Fawkes  made  Wrestling 
sleep  with  him.  The  lad  lay  awake  for  some 
time,  trying  to  think  of  some  scheme  for  disclos- 
ing the  plot,  but  Fawkes  was  a  light  sleeper  and 
started  whenever  he  stirred ;  and  in  spite  of  the 
boy's  anxiety,  he  was  very  weary,  and  soon  fell 
soundly  asleep.  He  was  awakened  by  Fawkes 
himself.  They  dressed  and  went  downstairs 
for  a  light  breakfast,  which  had  been  left  at  the 
door  by  a  boy  from  the  coffee-house. 

After  breakfast  there  was  more  work  to  be 


142  PATIENCE. 

done.  Some  carts  loaded  with  old  iron  had  ar- 
rived, and  Wrestling  was  needed  to  help  stow  it 
away  in  the  basement  of  the  Parliament  House. 
Guy  Fawkes  showed  him  how  to  lay  it  on  the 
kegs  so  that  the  explosion  would  carry  the  bolts 
like  the  projectiles  from  a  cannon  through  the 
floor  above,  scattering  death  among  the  mem- 
bers of  Parliament.  Guy  Fawkes  himself  laid 
some  specially  heavy  and  ragged  pieces  directly 
under  the  throne,  saying,  "  You  are  for  King 
James,  and  you  for  Prince  Henry." 

Wrestling  laughed,  though  the  cold  perspira- 
tion started  from  every  pore.  "  And  you  for 
Cecil,"  he  added,  laying  down  another.  "My 
lord  will  see  how  the  deer  of  Sherwood  Forest 
feel  when  the  arrows  go  through  their  vitals." 

"  By  the  saints,  you  are  an  apt  pupil !  "  re- 
plied Fawkes,  looking  at  him  admiringly,  but 
with  some  surprise. 

"  Did  I  not  tell  you,"  said  Wrestling  "  when 
I  helped  you  at  my  father's  house,  that  we  had 
our  grievances  also  ?  Give  me  my  part  to  do, 
and  you  shall  see  none  will  do  it  better.  But 
tell  me,  Master  Fawkes,  how  shall  we  come  out 
of  this  business  when  all  is  done  ?  " 

"  You  may  go  with  me  if  you  like,"  Fawkes 
replied.  "  There  is  a  pinnace  waiting  for  me 
at  Lambeth.  My  daughter  goes  on  board  to- 


THE   GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  143 

morrow.  I  shall  have  a  rowboat  at  the  wharf. 
The  slow  match  will  burn  for  fifteen  minutes, 
and  we  will  be  well  down  the  river  before  the 
spark  can  travel  up  it  to  the  powder.  But  we 
shall  see  the  fireworks  from  a  distance,  and  will 
stay  our  rowing  to  wish  the  King  and  his 
court  a  merry  journey.  Then  to  Spain  to 
report  this  business  to  Philip." 

Wrestling  had  determined  to  win  Guy 
Fawkes'  confidence,  and  he  did  his  bidding 
faithfully  all  that  day,  as  calmly  and  coolly 
when  he  thought  himself  out  of  his  sight  as 
when  with  him,  for  he  reflected  that  he  was 
probably  watched,  and  he  was  determined  to 
disarm  any  lurking  suspicion. 

It  was  his  only  hope  now  to  be  allowed  to 
accompany  the  party  that  was  to  meet  Sir 
"Walter,  and  be  assigned  the  task  of  waving  the 
lantern.  If  possible  he  would  desert  from  the 
company,  and  give  the  signal  at  another  point 
on  the  river  bank.  If  he  could  not  get  away 
he  would  drop  the  lantern  at  the  critical  mo- 
ment. They  might  kill  him  first,  but  Sir 
Walter  should  not  be  lured  into  their  power. 

The  night  of  the  4th  came,  and  one  by  one 
the  members  of  the  conspiracy  arrived.  Wrest- 
ling waited  on  the  door  and  showed  them  into 
the  reception  room.  Treshain  was  among  them, 


144  PATIENCE. 

and  Wrestling  beard  him  ask  for  the  com- 
pact with  the  names  of  the  Puritaus.  Fawkes 
was  certain  that  the  Jesuit  had  carried  it  away 
when  he  returned  to  Warwickshire.  "  'Tis  in 
good  hands,  then,"  replied  Treshain.  "  I  told 
the  Jesuit  that  I  met  Lord  Rich  at  the  Tower, 
and  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  tilting, 
and  our  good  priest  will  ride  up  in  his  com- 
pany." 

"  Does  the  Jesuit  hope  to  induce  Lord  Rich 
to  join  us  ? " 

"He  is  too  sly,  and  Raleigh  has  probably 
given  him  an  inkling  of  what  is  afoot.  But  he 
is  in  good  hands  now ;  the  Jesuit  will  find  out 
what  he  knows,  and  see  that  he  hath  a  hand's- 
breadth  of  cold  steel  in  his  side  if  he  is  dan- 
gerous." 

Percy  came  in  last  of  all,  and  objected  to 
Wrestling's  presence.  "  You  may  be  a  traitor, 
for  all  I  know,"  he  said  ;  "  and  I  intend  to  lock 
you  in  the  cellar  until  we  bring  back  Sir 
Walter  to  bear  you  company." 

Wrestling  protested  hotly  to  Fawkes.  "  The 
Jesuit "  he  said,  "  intrusted  me  with  as  delicate 
a  piece  of  business  as  that  of  any  of  these  gen- 
tlemen. What  name  did  he  give  me  to  you  ? 
Do  I  deserve  to  be  shackled  and  locked  up  ?  " 

"'Tis  true   that  it  is   an   indignity,"    said 


THE   GUNPOWDER  PLOT.  145 

Fawkes ;  "  but  suffer  it  now,  and  when  we 
return  you  shall  be  liberated." 

Percy  led  Wrestling  to  the  cellar  which  he 
had  explored  on  his  arrival,  and  bound  him  to 
the  stairs  with  a  rope.  This  was  the  cellar  in 
which  the  conspirators  had  dug  the  long  tunnel 
toward  the  Parliament  House  before  they  had 
found  that  this  was  not  necessary,  as  the  base- 
ment directly  beneath  the  room  in  which 
Parliament  would  meet  could  be  rented.  It 
was  the  cellar,  too,  in  which  they  intended  to 
lock  Sir  Walter. 

A  passion  of  grief  and  remorse  filled  the 
boy's  heart  as  he  thought  of  his  hero's  parting 
words,  "I  believe  thou  couldst  never  betray 
thy  captain."  Sir  Walter  had  trusted  him  and 
would  be  betrayed  by  that  trust  to  his  death. 

There  hung  the  very  lantern  which  they 
would  come  for  presently.  A  candle  was  burn- 
ing within  it,  and  the  green  light  shone  like 
the  eye  of  some  terrible  wild  beast  watching  for 
its  prey. 

Suddenly  what  the  Jesuit  had  told  him  came 
to  his  mind.  There  was  not  another  green 
lantern  in  London,  and  Raleigh  had  been 
specially  warned  not  to  start  unless  a  green 
light  was  displayed. 

He  wriggled  and  strained  and  struggled,  but 


146  PATIENCE. 

could  not  get  free.  The  moments  were  slip- 
ping by,  and  he  must  steal  the  green  glass. 
Impossible ;  all  his  frantic  efforts  had  been  able 
to  effect  was  to  loosen  one  twist  of  the  rope, 
and  to  give  his  right  arm  play  from  the  elbow 
downward.  It  was  enough.  He  had  been  tied 
in  a  sitting  position,  and  groping  on  the  ground 
he  found  three  pieces  of  coal.  He  threw  one ;  it 
flew  wide  of  the  mark.  The  second  was  better 
aimed,  and  shattered  the  glass ;  the  last  sent  it 
all  clinking  to  the  floor  and  extinguished  the 
light,  just  as  the  door  at  the  head  of  the  stairs 
was  opened,  and  Percy  called,  "  Bring  a  torch, 
someone;  the  draught  has  extinguished  the  lan- 
tern." He  looked  keenly  at  Wrestling  and  his 
fastenings  as  he  passed,  so  keenly  that  he  did 
not  notice  the  state  in  which  he  found  the  lan- 
tern, except  to  be  sure  that  the  candle  had  not 
burned  out.  He  hurried  up  the  stairs,  and 
Wrestling  heard  them  all  leave  the  house. 

A  terrible  thought  struck  him.  What  if 
they  should  not  return,  but  decide  to  fire  the 
mine  before  liberating  him  ?  He  shouted  aloud, 
but  the  excavated  earth  piled  in  the  front  part 
of  the  cellar  deadened  his  cries.  He  did  not 
even  hear  the  galloping  of  the  horses'  hoofs  as 
they  hurried  off.  He  was  alone  in  the  dark- 
ness and  a  great  horror  fell  upon  him. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


MASKING    AND    UNMASKING. 

The  manners  of  the  court  I  also  know, 

And  so  likewise  what  they  in  the  country  do. 

The  brave  attempts  of  valiant  knights  I  prize 

That  dare  scale  walls  and  forts  reared  to  the  skies. 

The  snorting  horse,  the  trumpt,  drum  I  like, 

The  glittering  sword,  the  pistol  and  the  pike. 

I  scorn  the  heavy  corslet,  musket  proof, 

I  fly  to  catch  the  bullet  that's  aloof. 

Though  thus  in  field  at  home  to  all  most  kind, 

So  affable  that  I  can  suit  each  mind. 

My  wit,  my  bounty  and  my  courtesy 

Make  all  to  put  their  future  hopes  in  me. 

—  ANNE  DUDLEY  BRADSTREET. 


HE   evening  that 
the    Jesuit    had 
told  Patience   to 
meet  him  at  the 
mill  she  kept  the  tryst,  trip- 
ping down  from  the  castle 
just  as  the  sunset   gilded 
the    towers   of    Warwick. 
Two   travelers,   who   were 
riding  across  the  bridge  at 
that    instant,   noticed    her 
lonely    building,    and    drew    rein 
147 


enter    the 


148  PATIENCE. 

simultaeously.  One  was  the  Jesuit,  the  other 
Lord  Rich.  They  had  ridden  up  from  Lon- 
don in  company,  but  had  been  able  to  ex- 
tract very  little  information  from  each  other. 
Lord  Rich  recognized  the  little  figure  which 
had  just  disappeared  through  the  dark  door- 
way, and  calling  to  his  tutor,  who  was  fol- 
lowing at  a  little  distance,  bade  him  hold 
his  horse,  as  he  had  a  fancy  to  explore  the 
old  mill,  which  had  been  a  favorite  haunt  of 
his  as  a  boy.  The  Jesuit  scowled,  but  rode 
on  some  distance,  and,  leaving  his  own  horse 
at  the  stables  of  the  inn,  returned  by  a  circuit- 
ous route  to  the  mill. 

Patience  was  looking  from  a  narrow  window, 
when  she  heard  a  manly  step  on  the  rough 
planking,  and  turning,  with  the  expectation  of 
seeing  the  Jesuit,  was  much  surprised  to  rec- 
ognize Lord  Rich.  Both  expectation  and  sur- 
prise so  plainly  chased  each  other  over  her 
frank  countenance  that  Lord  Rich  exclaimed : 
"Ah  !  my  pretty  maid,  you  were  awaiting  some 
other  gallant,  for  I  see  plainly  that  this  rendez- 
vous was  not  for  me.  Do  not  deny  it.  I  have 
guessed  who  it  is — an  easy  matter,  since  you 
sent  love  letters  to  him  whilst  lie  was  with  me 
in  London.  Young  Wrestling  Brewster  is  a 
lad  of  parts,  but  you  have  got  him  involved  in 


MASKING  AND    UNMASKING.        149 

a  pretty  business.     Tell  me  why  you  sent  him 
on  that  false  errand  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  ?  " 

"  What  mean  you  ?  "  Patience  stammered. 

"You  know  right  well  what  I  mean.  You 
are  playing  with  edged  tools,  my  child,  and  you 
may  wound  yourself  sadly.  Come,  let  me  ac- 
company you  back  to  the  castle,  since  he  Avhoni 
you  expect  cannot  meet  you  here  to-night,  and 
as  we  go  confide  in  me.  I  promise  to  be  your 
true  friend,  and  to  help  you  in  any  tangle  in 
which  you  may  be  involved.  For  a  coil  there 
is,  of  that  I  am  certain." 

Patience  could  not  refuse  to  accompany  Lord 
Rich  without  betraying  the  Jesuit.  She  had 
brought  a  scrap  of  paper  bearing  Sir  Fulke 
Greville's  autograph,  as  he  had  asked  her. 
It  was  in  her  glove,  and  she  managed  as  they 
left  the  mill  to  drop  the  glove  and  its  contents, 
reasoning  rightly  that  the  Jesuit,  whom  she  had 
seen  upon  the  bridge,  would  soon  find  them. 

As  they  walked  toward  the  castle  together, 
Patience  asked  Lord  Rich  why  he  called  her 
letter  to  Wrestling  a  false  one. 

"  Because,"  Lord  Rich  replied,  "  the  lad  read 
it  to  me.  It  purported  to  contain  a  letter  for 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  from  his  friend  Sir  George 
Carew,  written  from  his  home,  Clopton  House. 
Now,  I  met  Sir  George  in  London  just  before 


150  PATIENCE. 

setting  out  on  my  journey,  and  lie  had  not  been 
home  in  a  fortnight,  nor  had  he  written  Sir 
Walter.  I  bade  him  look  into  the  matter,  for 
there  was  certainly  some  treachery  afoot,  and 
what  I  would  know,  my  little  maid,  is,  Where 
got  you  that  letter  which  you  sent  Master 
Wrestling  within  your  own  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  tell  you,  my  lord,"  Patience 
answered  simply,  "but  I  do  protest  that  it 
covers  no  villainy." 

"  None  of  yours,  I  will  swear,"  replied  Lord 
Rich ;  "  still  you  may  have  been  made  use  of  by 
villains.  I  am  sorry  you  will  not  trust  me,  for 
this  business  may  bring  Sir  Walter  into  deadly 
peril.  Sir  George  Carew  told  me  that  he  in- 
tends to  escort  Lady  Raleigh  to  Kenilworth 
to-morrow,  in  order  that  she  may  meet  the 
Queen  and  Prince  Henry.  If  you  would  like 
to  know  her,  I  will  present  you  to  her.  She  is 
a  fascinating  woman  still,  though  not  so  beauti- 
ful now  as  when,  as  Elizabeth  Throckmorton, 
Raleigh  braved  for  her  love  the  displeasure  of 
Queen  Elizabeth." 

Patience  smiled,  for  she  was  reassured.  Evi- 
dently Sir  George  Carew  had  written  the  letter 
which  the  Jesuit  had  sent  by  Wrestling,  and  had 
not  chosen  to  confide  to  Lord  Rich  that  it  was 
Sir  Walter  himself  whom  he  was  to  escort  to 


MASKING  AND    UNMASKING.        151 

Kenilworth.  "  I  would  like  to  meet  Lady 
Raleigh,"  she  said ;  "  and  I  pray  the  poor  lady 
may  soon  have  the  joy  of  seeing  her  husband 
pronounced  innocent  of  the  crime  of  which  he 
has  been  so  unjustly  convicted.  Did  Wrestling 
see  him  ?  Tell  me  how  he  looked." 

"  Wrestling  bore  himself  very  well,  and  Sir 
Walter  was  manifestly  drawn  to  him.  I  trust 
the  lad  deserves  his  confidence." 

"  Indeed  he  does,  my  lord.  Wrestling  is  the 
bravest  and  truest  of  friends  ;  and  I  have  heard 
him  say  that  he  can  never  love  woman,  for  he 
loves  Sir  Walter  more  than  he  can  ever  love  any 
other  human  being.  That  is  why  I  love  Wrest- 
ling. I  should  hate  him  if  he  were  false  to  Sir 
Walter,  or  even  half-hearted." 

"  'Tis  a  true  woman's  reason.  You  love  him 
him  because  he  has  no  heart  left  with  which  to 
love  you.  Well,  little  maid,  you  are  both  over 
young  to  settle  for  life  these  matters  of  the 
heart.  Trust  me,  you  need  not  waste  your 
affection  on  this  unresponsive  Wrestling. 
There  be  other  men  with  more  appreciative  eyes 
in  their  heads  and  more  susceptible  hearts  in 
their  breasts.  I  say  no  more  at  this  time,  but 
if  ever  you  should  need  a  friend,  remember  you 
have  a  true  one  in  Robert  Rich." 

Two  days  later  came  the  fete  at  Kenilworth, 


152  PATIENCE. 

opened  in  the  afternoon  by  an  entertainment 
called  the  "  barriers." 

The  barriers,  or  tilting,  was  an  adaptation  of 
the  mediaeval  tourney,  and  consisted  of  some  fine 
horsemanship  in  the  castle  tilt-yard,  introduced 
by  a  sort  of  open-air  play,  acted  on  a  terrace  a 
little  higher  than  the  arena  where  the  jousting 
took  place.  All  around  this  arena,  and  backed 
by  the  dark  walls  of  the  castle,  the  seats  for  the 
spectators  rose  in  amphitheater  fashion,  and  \vere 
filled  with  gayly  dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

The  terrace  stage  was  set  with  Merlin's 
tomb  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  an  enchanted 
grotto,  sealed  with  cabalistic  signs.  Water  from 
the  castle  moat  had  been  led  in  front  of  the  ter- 
race in  an  artificial  canal  separating  the  stage 
from  the  arena,  and  high  against  the  castle- wall, 
at  the  back  of  the  stage,  was  a  star  constructed 
of  painted  canvas.  The  star  covered  one  of  the 
castle  windows,  and  was  arranged  to  open  and 
disclose  King  Arthur,  who  was  supposed  after 
his  death  to  have  been  translated  to  one  of  the 
heavenly  bodies. 

The  plot  of  the  little  play  was  founded  on  the 
old  romance  of  the  Table  Round,  and  was  a 
revival  and  elaboration  of  one  of  the  entertain- 
ments with  which  Leicester  welcomed  the  arrival 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  at  Kenilworth.  Patience 


MASKING  AND    UNMASKING.        153 

had  seen  it  rehearsed,  but,  though  the  element  of 
novelty  was  removed,  she  watched  it  with  all  the 
more  excitement,  for  she  knew  just  at  what 
point  to  expect  Sir  Walter  to  make  his  entree. 
The  King  had  not  come  out  from  London,  for 
Parliament  was  to  open  that  morning,  and  this 
circumstance  had  detained  many  of  the  nobles ; 
but  Patience  had  no  doubt  that  Prince  Henry 
had  secured  a  full  pardon  for  his  favorite,  and 
would  be  able  to  announce  it  on  presenting  him 
to  the  audience.  That  this  audience  was  very 
largely  composed  of  ladies  made  it  all  the  more 
brilliant.  They  seemed  a  flock  of  beautiful 
butterflies  a-tilt  on  a  blossoming  flower-bed,  as 
they  shaded  their  faces  with  their  painted  fans, 
or  fluttered  their  many-colored  scarfs  in  recogni- 
tion of  friends  or  in  applause  of  the  acting. 

Patience  was  seated  beside  Lady  Rich,  with 
the  other  ladies-in-waiting  and  maids  of  honor, 
quite  near  the  Queen,  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  and 
Prince  Charles;  and  immediately  after  their 
entrance  a  group  of  courtiers,  who  were  rather 
conspicuous  owing  to  the  preponderance  of 
ladies,  pressed  forward  and  took  the  seats 
immediately  in  their  vicinity. 

"  We  are  quite  surrounded  by  cavaliers,"  Lady 
Rich  remarked  to  one  of  them,  Sir  Everard 
Digby. 


154  PATIENCE. 

"  Lady  Rich  cannot  wonder  at  that  circum- 
stance," was  the  gallant  reply. 

"  And  you  are  all  of  the  Catholic  party.  Are 
you  not  afraid  that  some  important  bill  may 
be  passed  in  Parliament  during  your  ab- 
sence ? " 

Lord  Digby  turned  slightly  pale.  "  The 
Catholic  gentleman  is  the  only  one  who  places 
his  worship  of  woman  above  politics,"  he  said. 
"You  will  pardon  us  that  we  come  lightly 
armed,  as  we  expect  to  take  part  in  the  m£lee 
after  the  tournament." 

"  I  thought  that  on  such  occasions  only  '  cour- 
teous arms,'  wooden  swords  too  wide  to  enter 
an  open  visor,  were  permitted." 

A  fanfare  of  trumpets,  which  announced 
that  the  spectacle  was  about  to  begin,  saved 
Sir  Everard  the  embarrassment  of  a  reply. 

The  play  was  opened  by  the  Lady  of  the 
Lake,  who  floated  in  on  a  barge  representing 
a  water  lily,  and  drawn  along  the  canal  by 
unseen  ropes.  As  the  lily  reached  the  center 
of  the  stage  it  paused  and  the  lady  recited  a 
panegyric  on  King  James,  likening  him  to 
King  Arthur  of  the  Table  Round.  When  she 
had  finished  the  folding  doors  of  the  star  flew 
open  and  disclosed  Arthur,  now  an  inhabitant 
of  heaven,  who  expressed  his  satisfaction  in  his 


MASKING  AND    UNMASKING.        155 

successor   and  in   the   knighthood    which  had 
replaced  his  own  ideals  of  chivalry : 

"Fair  fall  his  virtue  that  doth  fill  the  throne 
In  which  I  joy  to  find  myself  outshone. 
Proceed  in  thy  great  work,  bring  forth  thy  knight 
Preserved  for  these  late  times,  and  by  his  might 
Let  him  be  famous  as  was  Tristram,  Tor, 

Launcelot,  and  all  our  list  of  knighthood. 
Beyond  the  paths  and  searches  of  the  sun 
Let  him  tempt  fate,  and  when  a  world  is  won 
Submit  it  duly  to  this  state." 

Patience  felt  her  heart  swell  almost  to  burst- 
ing. Now,  she  thought,  everyone  must  know 
that  it  is  through  Raleigh  that  the  New  World 
is  to  be  gained  for  England,  and  be  prepared 
for  what  is  to  come. 

Forth  from  his  tomb  came  the  wizard  Merlin, 
an  aged  man  with  snowy  beard  and  hair  and 
long  white  robes.  He  rehearsed  the  history 
of  England  from  Arthur's  time  to  that  of 
James,  and  proclaimed  that  all  the  exploits 
of  its  heroes  were  to  be  outdone  in  the 
person  of  the  Prince  of  the  Isles,  Moeliades. 
This  name  had  been  chosen  by  Jonson  because 
it  was  an  anagram  of  Prince  Henry's  motto, 
Miles  a  Deo  (Soldier  of  God). 

The  Prince  entered  with  his  suite  after  this 
introduction,  and  was  received  with  tremendous 


156  PATIENCE. 

applause.  Patience  thought  he  looked  very 
slight  and  pale,  but  he  announced  the  opening 
of  the  barriers  with  a  firm  voice.  The  herald 
sounded  his  trumpet  for  a  trial  at  arms. 
"  Oyez,  oyez  ! "  he  cried,  in  the  old  formal 
French  wording  of  the  herald's  proclamation. 
"  There  will  now  be  fought  a  very  noble 
pardon  of  arms  for  the  glory  of  knighthood 
and  amusement  of  the  ladies." 

But  Merlin  raised  his  enchanter's  wand,  for 
he  had  more  to  say,  in  warning,  in  prophecy, 
and  in  invocation  of  the  spirit  of  chivalry. 
He  began  sternly : 

"  He  that  in  deeds  of  arms  obeys  his  blood 
Doth  often  tempt  his  fate  beyond  its  good. 
But  you  and  your  fair  consort,  King  and  Queen, 
Have  but  the  least  of  your  bright  fortunes  seen. 
Your  age's  night  shall  be  Great  Britain's  noon, 
For  this  young  Knight,  who  now  pricks  forth  so  soon 
Into  the  world,  shall  in  your  names  achieve 
More  garlands  for  this  state  and  shall  relieve 
Your  cares  in  government.    While  that  great  Lord, 
Shall  second  him  in  arms  and  shake  a  sword 
And  lance  against  the  foes  of  God  and  you, 
Till  led  by  them  you  shall  a  Britain  view 
Beyond  the  line,  when  what  the  seas  before 
Did  bound,  shall  to  sky  then  stretch  his  shore." 

Merlin  paused,  and  then  exclaimed,   pointing 
his  staff  impressively  at  the  enchanted  grotto : 

"  But  stay,  methinks  I  see 
A  person  in  you  cave.    Who  should  it  be? 


MASKING  AND    UNMASKING         157 

I  know  his  ensigns,  it  is  Chivalry, 
Possessed  with  sleep,  dead  as  a  lethargy. 
If  any  name  will  wake  him  'tis  the  name 
Of  our  Moeliades — I  will  use  his  fame." 

It  was  precisely  at  this  point  that  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  who,  the  Jesuit  had  assured  Patience, 
would  take  the  part  of  Chivalry,  was  to  appear, 
lind  Patience  bent  forward  eagerly  as  the  barred 
and  sealed  doors  of  the  cave  flew  open  and  a 
figure  in  full  armor  came  forth.  The  knight 
threw  back  the  visor  of  his  helmet,  and,  looking 
about  him  as  though  dazzled  by  the  light,  to 
which  he  was  unaccustomed,  exclaimed : 

"  Were  it  from  death  that  name  would  wake  me.     Say 
Which  is  my  Prince  ?    O,  I  could  gaze  a  day!  " 

The  knight  sank  upon  one  knee  and  kissed 
Prince  Henry's  hand,  then  rose  and  gave  the 
summons  for  the  entry  of  the  horsemen. 

"  From  all  the  world  come  knighthood  like  a  flood, 
Upon  these  lists  to  make  this  augury  good." 

Again  the  applause  burst  forth,  only  second 
to  that  which  had  greeted  the  appearance  of 
Prince  Henry,  and  then  there  was  the  tumult 
of  the  entree  of  the  contending  knights ;  and 
conspicuous  in  the  cavalcade,  both  for  his  skill- 
ful horsemanship  and  magnificent  dress,  was 
the  young  Lord  Rich,  but  Patience  hardly 


158  PATIENCE. 

noticed  him.  Her  gaze  was  fixed  upon 
Chivalry,  whom  she  believed  to  be  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh.  She  had  never  seen  her  hero,  but  a 
vague  feeling  of  disappointment  possessed  her. 
Was  it  because  no  announcement  was  made, 
because  the  Prince  did  not  lead  him  forward 
and  present  him  to  the  court  at  this  juncture 
in  his  own.  proper  person  and  name,  free, 
vindicated  from  all  stigma,  and  reinstated  in 
royal  favor  ?  Was  it  not  rather  that  there  was 
something  ignoble  in  the  appearance  of  the 
man  himself?  Chivalry  had  taken  off  his 
cumbrous  helmet  and  handed  it  to  a  page,  and 
running  a  white  hand  through  his  curling 
locks,  now  stood  ogling  the  ladies  with  a 
quizzing  glass.  There  was  none  of  the  proud 
nobility  of  bearing  for  which  Sir  Walter  was 
noted.  Instead  of  the  grizzled,  upturned 
moustachios  of  the  old  soldier,  a  faint  black 
down  graced  the  simpering  upper  lip  of  this 
young  courtier,  and  Patience  quite  uncon- 
sciously murmured,  "  Oh  !  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
does  not  look  at  all  as  I  had  imagined  him ! " 

"  Raleigh !  And  where  do  you  see  him  ? " 
Lady  Rich  asked  sharply. 

"Does  he  not  take  the  part  of  Chivalry?" 
asked  Patience. 

Lady    Rich    laughed    unpleasantly.     "  That 


MASKING   AND    UNMASKING.        15$ 

were  indeed  a  rare  joke.  Nay ;  his  grotto  will 
need  more  than  the  wand  of  Merlin  to  bid  its 
door  fly  open.  Chivalry  is  impersonated  by 
the  new  favorite,  the  young  George  Villiers. 
They  say  he  will  climb  high." 

None  could  have  foretold  at  that  time  how 
high  he  would  climb,  or  that  this  mere  youth, 
without  fortune  and  of  inconspicuous  rank, 
whose  only  education  was  dancing,  fencing, 
and  a  smattering  of  music,  French,  and  polite 
literature,  would  become  the  powerful  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  and  virtually  king  during  two 
reigns.  But  George  Villiers  was  formed  to 
please,  and  from,  the  time  that  he  entered  the 
palace  as  a  page  he  attracted  the  King's  atten- 
tion, and  very  shortly  secured  his  affection. 
When  in  later  years  the  Howards  reproached 
the  King  with  lavishing  his  favors  upon  him, 
James  replied  coolly,  "  I  do  confess  I  like  best 
the  people  whom  I  am  fond  of." 

The  tilting  had  begun,  but  the  gentlemen 
who  seemed  to  have  constituted  themselves  a 
bodyguard  around  the  royal  family  did  not 
leave  their  seats.  Sometimes  they  whispered 
to  each  other,  and  looked  toward  the  entrance 
of  the  tilt-yard.  They  were  evidently  expect- 
ing; someone,  and  it  occurred  to  Patience  that 

O  ' 

they  were  in  the  secret,  and  were  looking  for 


160  PATIENCE. 

the  coming  of  Raleigh.  Suddenly  she  remem- 
bered that  she  had  promised  to  unbar  the 
postern  gate,  and  that  in  her  excitement  she 
had  forgotten  to  do  so.  Perhaps  she  was 
responsible  for  the  failure  of  this  well-planned 
scheme!  She  slipped  unnoticed  from  the 
arena,  and  opening  the  door  was  confronted, 
not  by  Sir  Walter  or  by  the  Jesuit,  but  by  the 
white  face  of  the  latter's  servant  Owen. 

"You  have  come  in  the  nick  of  time!"  he 
gasped.  "  Go  to  Sir  Everard  Digby,  and  say  to 
him  that  the  hay  is  cut,  but  that  the  rain  hath 
spoiled  the  crop.  Tell  him  that  Percy  and  the 
reapers  from  London  have  taken  all  the  horses 
at  Clopton  House,  but  that  my  master  sends 
them  this  order  signed  by  Sir  Fulke  Greville 
for  the  horses  for  the  great  saddle  at  the 
cavalry  barracks  at  Warwick.  Let  each  man 
take  two — and  so  to  the  meet,  for  the  hunt  is 


on." 


Patience  understood  vaguely  that  the  plot 
had  failed.  "  Is  Sir  Walter  safe  ? "  she  asked  ; 
but  Owen  did  not  know.  She  returned  to  the 
arena.  The  tournament  was  over,  and  in  the 
confusion  of  its  breaking  up  she  easily  gave 
the  message  to  Sir  Everard  Digby,  who,  with 
the  Catholic  members  of  Parliament,  instantly 
left  the  castle.  The  other  guests  passed  to  the 


MASKING  AND    UNMASKING.        161 

interior  of  the  building,  where  supper  was 
served.  Lord  Rich  was  at  her  side,  a  boyish 
elation  lighting  his  handsome  face,  for  he  had 
won  the  Prince's  prize. 

"  Come  and  see  my  silver  ship,"  he  said  to 
Patience,  as  soon  as  supper  was  ended,  "  and  sail 
away  in  it  with  me  to  the  New  World.  You 
shall  be  Queen  of  El  Dorado.  I  am  not  talk- 
ing pleasantries.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  has  told 
me  of  an  Indian  who  knows  the  secret  way 
to  its  gold  mines.  I  mean  to  purchase  a  patent 
of  King  James,  with  his  permission  to  be  vice- 
roy." 

They  were  alone  for  the  moment  in  the 
Prince's  study.  The  silver  Fortune  seemed  to 
Patience's  half -dizzy  gaze  to  wave  her  wreath 
and  beckon.  And  Lord  Rich,  carried  away  by 
his  exaltation,  did  not  notice  her  coldness,  but 
hurried  on: 

"  Listen,  Patience ;  I  have  brought  my 
mother  great  news  from  London.  King  James 
has  created  my  father  Earl  of  Warwick ;  not 
for  any  rare  merit  on  his  part,  as  we  well 
know,  unless  piracy  is  a  merit ;  and,  in  truth, 
the  booty  which  his  ships  have  taken  from 
Spaniards  and  other  mariners  is  most  accept- 
able to  his  Majesty.  The  title  was  dearly  pur- 
chased, but  it  is  hereditary.  It  will  be  mine 


162  PATIENCE. 

some  day.  You  have  seen  something  of  court 
life.  How  would  it  suit  you  to  be  Countess  of 
Warwick?" 

"  Surely,  my  lord,"  said  Patience,  "  you  are 
but  playing  with  me." 

"  Far  be  it  from  me,  sweet  Patience,  to  be  so 
base.  I  have  loved  you  since  I  saw  you  at  the 
lodge  in  Sherwood  Forest,  and  let  this  prove  it 
to  you.  When  my  father  told  me  of  the  title 
that  is  to  be  mine  at  his  death,  I  was  ill- 
pleased,  for  he  explained  that  now  I  must 
guard  my  heart  and  make  a  marriage  conform- 
able with  my  rank.  At  that  moment,  sweet 
Patience,  I  wished  that  I  were  the  veriest 
Puritan  boor,  like  one  of  your  playmates  of 
Scrooby,  so  I  might  change  my  earl's  coronet 
for  your  love." 

Patience's  cheek  flushed.  This  allusion  to 
Wrestling  and  Love  angered  her.  "  Since 
you  are  not  a  Puritan  boor,  my  lord,"  she 
replied,  "  why  do  you  speak  of  these  matters 
to  me  ? " 

"  Because,  sweetheart,  there  are  two  ways 
out  of  our  difficulty.  The  first,  I  should  say  the 
last  desperate  resort,  is  that  we  desert  England 
for  America,  where  we  will  found  a  new  king- 
dom with  new  titles,  and  where  your  simple 
birth  will  be  no  impediment  to  our  marriage. 


MASKING   AND    UNMASKING.         163 

Anything  can  be  bought,  and  I  can  exchange 
my  English  earldom  for  gold  which  will  pur- 
chase of  the  King  grants  in  America.  That  is 
the  plan  which  I  have  been  cogitating  all  the 
way  from  London.  But  when  I  talked  it  over 
with  my  mother  I  found  she  had  a  better. 
Hers  is  a  rare  mind  for  seizing  every  advan- 
tage. If  she  had  been  the  dog  i'  the  fable  she 
would  have  seized  the  meat  she  saw  reflected 
in  the  stream  without  dropping  that  already  in 
her  mouth.  My  mother  loves  you,  and  she  tells 
me  that  there  is  a  mystery  connected  with  your 
lineage,  that  you  know  not  from  what  Dudleys 
you  are  descended.  The  family  is  a  large  one. 
The  Duke  of  Northumberland  had  many  sons; 
some  one  of  them  may  have  contracted  a  se- 
cret marriage,  or  you  may  be  descended  from 
the  other  de  Suttons  of  Dudley  Castle.  We 
will  set  searchers  at  work  to  trace  your  pedigree. 
Perchance  thy  father  knows  more  than  you  are 
ware  of.  Much  can  be  accomplished  by  deter- 
mination and  money."  He  spoke  the  last 
words  below  his  breath ;  but  Patience  heard 
them,  and  her  smoldering  indignation  flared  into 
white  flame.  She  remembered  the  Jesuit's 
words,  and  had  no  doubt  that  she  could  put 
Lord  Rich  on  the  track  which  he  desired  ;  but 
in  her  brief  visit  at  Warwick  Castle  she  had 


164  PATIENCE. 

seen  enough  of  the  corruption  of  the  court  to 
be  shocked,  and  she  answered  hotly :  "  I  will 
have  no  purchased  or  forged  titles.  I  am  only 
plain  Patience  Dudley,  but  I  am  not  low  enough 
to  buy  a  title,  or  be  bought  by  one." 

"  Child,  you  know  not  what  you  say.  I  for- 
give your  insult,  for  I  cannot  think  it  intended. 
You  are  too  young  to  understand  these  matters. 
Bide  with  my  mother  but  one  season  at  White- 
hall, and  you  will  know  the  ways  of  the  court 
better.  I  shall  not  speak  to  you  again  of  this 
until  I  have  some  token  from  you  that  your 
mind  has  changed.  But  I  will  wait  for  you,  and 
my  motto  shall  be  :  *  Have  Patience.  Yea,  and 
I  will  have  her.' ' 

They  returned  to  the  great  hall,  where  the 
performance  of  the  masque  was  about  to  begin ; 
and  Patience  was  thankful  that  a  polite  atten- 
tion to  the  entertainment  restrained  Lord  Rich 
from  further  speech,  and  also  permitted  her  to 
be  silent.  She  had  looked  forward  with  such 
pleasant  anticipation  to  this  revel,  and  now  she 
hardly  heard  or  saw  for  the  torment  of  con- 
flicting emotions  which  almost  rendered  her 
frantic.  When  the  acting  was  over  Lord 
Rich,  who  saw  her  perturbation,  considerately 
strove  to  distract  her  mind. 

"  I  promised  to  introduce  you  to  Lady  Ra- 


MASKING  AND    UNMASKING.         165 

leigh,"  he  said.  "  See ;  she  is  there  talking 
with  the  Queen.  We  will  wait  until  her  Maj- 
esty has  passed  on,  and  then  I  will  present 
you." 

Lord  Rich  led  Patience  forward,  and  the  girl 
thought  she  had  never  seen  a  lovelier  face. 
There  were  tears  in  Lady  Raleigh's  eyes,  but 
they  were  happy  tears.  "  Her  Majesty  has 
just  told  me,"  she  said,  "  that  Prince  Henry  has 
begged  Sherbourne,  our  beautiful  home,  of 
which  my  husband  was  so  fond,  from  the  King, 
and  that  he  intends  to  have  it  settled  on  me, 
with  a  considerable  sum  of  money ;  but,  best  of 
all,  he  is  hopeful  of  a  pardon,  and  will  never 
cease  working  for  it  while  he  lives." 

"  When  did  you  see  your  noble  husband  last, 
my  lady  ?  "  Patience  asked. 

"Not  for  several  days,"  Lady  Raleigh  replied. 
"  They  are  making  alterations  in  his  apartments, 
and  have  moved  him  for  the  present,  so  that  he 
is  kept  rather  more  straitly,  and  is  not  allowed 
to  see  anyone.  But  that  will  be  over  in  a  few 
days." 

"  Heaven  grant  it ! "  Patience  replied  faintly. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  Lord  Rich  exclaimed 
suddenly.  "  The  dancing  has  broken  up.  A 
royal  courier  has  entered  the  hall  and  is  talk- 
ing with  the  master  of  ceremonies.  The 


166  PATIENCE. 

courtiers  are  flocking  around  him.  Sit  here, 
and  I  will  learn  what  news  he  brings." 

Lord  Rich  returned  with  a  grave  face.  "  An 
abominable  plot  of  the  Papists  to  blow  up  the 
King  and  Parliament  has  been  discovered,"  he 
said.  "  Do  not  be  frightened  ;  the  danger  has 
been  averted.  The  conspirators  are  known  and 
will  be  seized." 

"  Quick,  my  lord,"  interrupted  Lady  Raleigh, 
"  Your  little  friend  has  fainted  ! " 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE   KOSABY    OF    BLOOD    AJsLD    TEAKS. 

Away  and  away  ! 

For  the  morn  is  gray, 

And  the  sword  blades  hunger  and  stir  in  the  sheath, 

And  above  tbe  hills 

The  red  sky  thrills 

With  the  dawning  terror  of  blood  beneath. 

The  white  blades  burn, 

And  the  keen  spurs  yearn 

To  harvest  the  red  ripe  field  of  Death. 

Ride !    Ride  ! 

With  our  wrath  to  guide 

Into  the  battle  sword  by  side. 

— HERBERT  BATES. 

.RESTLING    did 

not  know  how  long 
he   remained  alone 
in   the    cellar.     In 
reality  it  was  only 
a  few  minutes  after  the 
others     had     clattered 
away  that  Guy  Fawkes 
came,  and,  shaking  him 
soundly  but  kindly,  re- 
stored him  to   his   self- 
possession  and  courage. 
"  I  dared  not  leave  my  mine  to  go  with  the 

167 


168  PATIENCE, 

others,"  he  explained.  "  It  must  be  watched 
every  minute  now,  until  to-morrow  at  noon, 
when  it  will  be  fired.  But  I  have  been  with- 
out sleep  for  two  nights.  I  must  catch  a  few 
winks.  I  will  lie  down  until  they  return  with 
Raleigh.  Take  my  place  and  watch.  I  will 
relieve  thee  at  one  o'clock." 

Wrestling's  heart  bounded  for  joy.  At  last 
he  would  have  an  opportunity  to  inform  the 
authorities  of  the  awful  plot.  To  whom  should 
he  go? 

Fawkes  seemed  to  mistrust  the  alacrity  with 
which  he  started  up  on  being  unbound,  for  he 
walked  back  with  him  to  the  basement  under 
the  Parliament  House,  and  locked  him  in, 
promising  to  call  for  him  between  one  and 
two. 

He  left  no  light,  but  th'e  moon  shone  dimly 
through  a  high  grated  window,  and  showed  the 
barrels  of  gunpowder  and  the  beams  and  bolts 
piled  upon  them.  Wrestling  rolled  some  of  the 
kegs  under  the  window,  and,  climbing  upon 
them,  looked  out.  The  window  opened  into  an 
interior  court,  and  there  was  not  a  watchman  or 
living  soul  in  sight.  All  was  silent  as  the 
grave.  The  bars  were  firm,  and  he  was  a  close 
prisoner.  He  was  on  the  point  of  shouting  with 
all  his  might,  in  the  hope  of  rousing  someone, 


ROSARY  OF  BLOOD  AND    TEARS.      169 

when  lie  heard  a  slight  noise  behind  him,  and 
he  descended  instantly  from  his  perch.  The 
noise  was  the  grating  of  a  rusty  bolt  in  a  door 
which  led  into  another  room  under  the  Parlia- 
ment House.  The  next  instant  there  was  a 
flood  of  light,  and  two  men  stepped  into  the 
room.  Instinctively  Wrestling  shrunk  down 
behind  the  barrels,  until  he  could  ascertain  who 
they  were. 

He  recognized  the  voice  of  one  of  the  men 

o 

immediately.  It  was  Percy,  whom  he  supposed 
had  gone  with  the  party  to  secure  Raleigh. 

"  There  is  no  one  here,"  Wrestling  heard  him 
say.  "As  I  left  Fawkes  he  told  me  he  in- 
tended to  turn  in  for  a  little  sleep.  He  will  be 
back  at  two,  when  he  can  be  arrested.  You 
can  see  that  everything  is  ready  for  the  explo- 
sion. He  will  touch  off  the  mine,  and  be  off  as 
soon  as  he  is  certain  that  the  King  and  the  Par- 
liament are  assembled  above  him.  He  is  a 
fanatic,  anarchist,  who  has  the  courage  of  his 
opinions.  He  would  blow  up  with  his  mine 
rather  than  have  it  fail." 

A  low,  chuckling  laugh  was  the  reply,  with 
the  words,  "  And  he  suspects  not  that  he  is 
betrayed  ? " 

"  Not  he.  The  crazy  fool  is  so  possessed 
with  his  one  idea  that  he  can  see  nothing  else, 


170  PATIENCE. 

though  it  is  as  plainly  to  be  seen  as  the  torch 
your  man  holds  at  the  door.  For  God's  sake, 
let  him  not  enter !  A  spark  let  fall,  and  we 
would  both  be  blown  to  atoms ! " 

"If  Fawkes  is  so  unsuspecting, can  he  not  be 
persuaded  to  delay  a  few  days,  until  you  can  im- 
plicate more  prominent  people  in  the  plot  ? " 

"  He  is  too  impatient,  my  lord.  Trust  me, 
he  will  not  wait  an  hour  after  the  King  takes 
his  seat  on  the  throne.  All  things  are  ready ; 
there  is  nothing  that  can  stop  him  now.  He 
must  be  seized  this  night.  I  have  done 

O 

my  best,  and  have  induced  Catesby  to  admit 
more  persons  into  the  plot  than  he  liked.  Sir 
Everard  Digby  is  in  earnest ;  but  Tresham  is  a 
white-livered  scoundrel,  and  since  he  joined 
Catesby  has  been  uneasy  and  half  suspects 
him."  ' 

"  How  did  Tresham  succeed  with  Raleigh  ?  " 
"  Very  vilely.  Tresham  made  him  think  that 
he  should  have  the  honor  of  proclaiming  Prince 
Henry  King,  and  would  doubtless  succeed  to 
your  post,  but  Raleigh  slapped  him  in  the  face, 
and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  scheme, 
protesting  his  allegiance  to  the  King." 

Wrestling  understood  now  that  this  person 
with  whom  Percy  was  talking  was  Cecil,  the 
King's  most  trusted  counselor;  that  he  had 


ROSARY  OF  BLOOD  AYD    TEARS.      171 

been  cognizant  of  the  plot  from  the  beginning, 
if  indeed  he  had  not  planned  it  to  ruin  the 
Catholic  party.  Percy,  and  possibly  Tresham 
also,  were  his  tools,  whose  business  it  had  been 
to  lead  as  many  as  possible  of  Cecil's  enemies 
to  implicate  themselves.  The  sin  of  the  an- 
archists was  no  less  in  what  they  had  intended 
to  do,  but  they  would  not  be  allowed  to  accom- 
plish their  designs,  and  their  punishment  would 
be  sure  and  terrible.  Wrestling's  first  feeling 
was  one  of  great  thankfulness  that  the  King 
and  the  Parliament  were  in  no  real  danger ;  his 
next,  a  revulsion  of  hatred  for  this  cold-blooded, 
Satanic  schemer,  who  had  tempted  men  of  deep 
wrongs  and  weak  moral  sense  into  deadly  sin, 
dishonor,  and  death.  For  Percy  he  felt  only 
contempt ;  he  was  beneath  hatred. 

"So,"  said  Cecil  musingly,  "that  sly  fox 
Raleigh  has  balked  me ;  but  the  hunt  is  not 
played  out  yet  between  him  and  the  Little 
Beagle." 

"  You  may  have  him  at  this  moment,"  replied 
Percy,  "  for  what  Tresham  could  not  effect  the 
Jesuit  has  arranged  on  his  own  account.  He 
has  concocted  another  and  a  better  scheme"; 
and  Percy  related  in  detail  the  plan  with  which 
we  are  already  familiar. 

"  Good,  excellent !     And  does  the  Jesuit  do 


172  PATIENCE. 

this  to  throw  the  blame  of  the  plot  on  Raleigh 
and  his  friends  ? " 

"  Perchance,  for  the  Jesuits  are  all  agents  of 
King  Philip,  and  Spain  has  no  cause  to  love 
Raleigh  ;  but  if  that  is  our  Jesuit's  motive,  he  is 
a  deep  schemer.  He  feigns  that  he  would  have 
Raleigh's  influence  with  Henry,  in  case  that 
Prince  is  not  blown  up  with  his  father  on  the 
morrow,  which  he  believes  cannot  be  effected, 
as  Henry  hath  a  tilting  at  Kenilworth,  and  he 
argued  against  hurting  a  hair  of  Raleigh's  head. 
'  For,'  said  he, '  we  will  need  what  favor  we  can 
get  with  the  Prince,  and  Raleigh's  influence  will 
be  for  the  toleration  of  all  religious,  which  is  as 
much  as  Catholics  can  hope  for  in  England.' 
The  Jesuit  left  for  Warwickshire,  believing  that 
Raleigh  would  be  sent  on  to  him  to-night." 

"  Hum,  that  would  serve  my  purpose  better 
than  the  other  scheme.  I  trust  he  is  well  on 
his  way.  It  needs  but  such  ah  act  as  that  to 
have  him  broken  on  the  wheel.  Are  many  of 
the  Jesuits  involved  ?  Has  their  superior,  Father 
Garnet,  declared  himself  ? " 

"  Greenway  hath  told  him  under  seal  of  con- 
fession ;  but  Father  Garnet  was  horrified,  and 
hath  labored  with  Catesby  to  make  him  give 
up  the  design,  swearing  that  he  will  not  give 
him  absolution  if  he  persists." 


ROSARY  OF  BLOOD  AND    TEARS.     173 

"  Baffled  again  in  the  quarter  where  I  most 
desired  success.  However,  if  we  can  prove  that 
Garnet  knew  what  was  pending,  and  did  not 
inform,  that  will  be  enough  to  establish  his 

'  O 

complicity,  and  to  make  it  appear  that  the  thing 
was  schemed  by  him.  We  will  seize  him  at 
once.  Where  does  this  fellow  Greenway 
hide  ? " 

"In  the  Priest's  Hole  at  Clopton  House, 
where  Digby  and  his  guests  await  my  coming. 
It  is  settled  that  immediately  after  the  ex- 
plosion Catesby  is  to  proclaim  the  new  King 
from  the  steps  of  Charing  Cross.  Of  course 
Catesby  hopes  that  Prince  Henry  will  have  been 
in  Parliament  and  that  Charles,  who  has  no 
Puritanical  bias,  will  be  the  heir- apparent. 
Catesby  counts  on  holding  Whitehall  Palace  in 
the  name  of  the  King,  while  I  spur  on  to  Digby 
and  report  the  success  of  affairs  here.  Then  he 
and  his  gentlemen  will  seize  the  Prince  at 
Kenilworth  and  bring  him  to  Whitehall, 
escorted  by  the  surviving  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, all  Catholics,  who  will  attend  to  his 
coronation.  If  the  event  prove  unsuccessful,  I 
am  to  ride  none  the  less  swiftly  and  give  them 
warning.  I  am,  as  you  see,  booted  and  spurred, 
ready  to  depart." 

"  Wait  until  Fawkes  is  arrested ;  then  fly  and 


1H  PATIENCE. 

and  report  to  them.  Keep  them  at  Clotpon  House 
if  you  can  ;  if  not,  take  them  to  Stephen  Little- 
ton's at  Holbeck  in  Staffordshire.  He  is  a 
Catholic  gentleman  who  will  not  refuse  you  har- 
borage, and  whom  I  would  like  to  have  trapped. 
Stay  with  them,  that  they  suspect  you  not.  Be 
not  afraid  to  be  arrested.  I  will  see  that  you 
escape.  What  does  Tresham  ?  " 

"He  carries  the  news  to  Philip,  and  will 
embark  at  once  for  Spain." 

"Be  sure  that  he  gets  away,  and  that  he  does 
not  return,  for  I  may  not  be  able  to  protect  him, 
and  he  might  babble  under  torture  of  my  knowl- 
edge in  this  matter.  Stay ;  one  thing  more. 
What  proof  have  you  of  the  complicity  of  the 
Puritans  in  this  matter  ?  " 

"  No  real  proof.  I  pasted  the  signatures 
which  I  stole  from  Brewster  to  the  compact,  and 
gave  it  to  Tresham  to  show  Raleigh." 

"  Where  is  the  compact  now  ? " 

"  The  Jesuit  hath  it." 

Percy  said  this  so  confidently  that  Wrestling 
involuntarily  felt  for  the  paper,  which  he  was 
rejoiced  to  find  still  within  the  breast  pocket  of 
his  shirt. 

"  Get  it  from  him  when  you  meet  at  Clopton 
House,  and  see  that  I  have  it.  'Tis  the  only 
shred  of  testimony  I  have  against  them.  I 


ROSAR?   OF  BLOOD  AND    TEARS.      175 

should  have  had  my  decipherer  copy  the  signa- 
tures before  letting  Treshain  use  the  paper. 
Tell  me,  are  any  the  sons  of  the  old  Archbishop 
Sandys  members  of  that  conventicle  ? " 

"  Their  names  were  not  on  the  church  list." 
"  And  yet  I  know  the  old  fox  was  a  Puritan, 
and  all  his  cubs  are  of  the  same  color.  I  am  on 
their  scent,  and  I  shall  come  up  with  them  yet. 
That  bold  commoner  Sir  Edwin  has  grown  reck- 
lessly presumptuous,  and  has  excited  the  King's 
enmity  for  that  speech  of  his  in  the  House  of 
Commons  when  he  maintained  that  the  origin 
of  every  monarchy  lies  in  election  by  the  people, 
and  that  a  King  who  pretends  to  rule  by  any 
other  title,  such  as  that  of  conqueror,  may  be 
dethroned  whenever  there  is  force  sufficient  to 
overthrow  him.  A  pretty  theory,  forsooth, 
which  utterly  ignores  the  divine  right  of  inherit- 
ance. He  needs  but  a  long  rope  to  hang  him- 
self in  time.  As  for  that  pestilent  Brewster,  I 
suspect  that  he  has  designs  of  voiding  the  realm ; 
I  shall  see  that  he  does  not  escape  me.  Now  to 
your  house,  and  wait  the  arrival  of  the  others. 
If  they  have  secured  Raleigh,  persuade  them  to 
follow  the  Jesuit's  plan  and  take  him  on  to 
Warwickshire.  In  that  case  have  a  light  in 
your  hall  window,  and  I  shall  know  that  he  is 
with  the  Jesuit.  Send  Fawkes  hither,  and  I  will 


176  PATIENCE. 

see  that  he  is  nabbed  before  daybreak,  and  that 
you  are  informed  of  his  arrest.  Then  take 
Catesby  with  you  and  ride  like  mad  to  join  the 
others  at  Clopton  House.  On  to  Stafforshire  if 
they  insist  on  leaving  cover ;  keep  them  to- 
gether at  all  events,  for  if  the  conspirators 
scatter,  it  will  be  more  difficult  to  secure  them." 
They  went  out  together,  and  Wrestling 
noticed  to  his  great  delight  that  though  they 
closed  the  door  behind  them  they  did  not  lock 
it.  He  tried  to  think  rapidly  what  was  the 
most  important  thing  for  him  to  do.  First  of  all, 
he  must  ascertain  the  whereabouts  of  Sir  Walter, 
and,  if  he  was  with  the  conspirators,  get  him 
away  from  them.  He  would  like  to  save  the 
Jesuit,  and  a  pang  of  pity  shot  through  his  heart 
for  Guy  Fawkes  himself,  as  he  thought  of 
Philippa  waiting  for  her  father  on  the  pinnace 
which  would  sail  without  him.  Fawkes  had 
been  prevented  from  accomplishing  his  murder- 
ous design,  what  harm  would  there  be  in  saving 
him  from  a  murderer's  fate  ?  He  dared  not  go 
to  the  house,  for  Percy  would  be  there,  and  he 
could  not  lose  time  by  remaining  longer  here ; 
but  he  determined  to  leave  a  warning  where 
Fawkes  would  see  it,  and  taking  a  handful  of 
powder  from  a  keg  he  let  it  trickle  from  his 
hands  on  the  floor  so  as  to  form  the  words 


ROSARY  OF  BLOOD  AND    TEARS.     m 

"  You  are  betrayed.  Flee.'1''  Then  he  hurried 
through  the  door  by  which  Cecil  and  Percy  had 
left.  There  was  a  staircase  outside,  up  which  he 
sped.  It  led  into  a  long  passage  which  opened 
upon  the  peers'  carriage  court,  from  which  a 
coach  was  just  rolling  away.  The  janitor  was 
rubbing  his  eyes  sleepily,  and  Wrestling  called 
to  him  imperiously  as  he  ran  by.  "  I  must 
catch  the  earl  of  Salisbury.  I  have  a  message 
for  him." 

"  Run,  then,  run  like  the  wind,  or  thou'lt  not 
overtake  him,"  said  the  janitor ;  and  Wrestling 
ran,  but  not  in  Cecil's  direction. 

As  he  turned  the  corner  he  saw  Percy  ahead 
of  him,  and  he  slunk  into  the  shadow,  following 
him  guardedly  until  he  entered  his  house,  and 
then  waited  in  a  doorway  at  a  little  distance. 
Presently  some  horsemen  came  clattering  down 
the  street.  It  was  the  party  that  had  gone  for 
Raleigh.  Wrestling's  heart  bounded  with  de- 
light as  he  counted  them ;  Sir  Walter  was  not 
with  them.  Percy  came  to  the  door,  and  he 
distinctly  heard  Lord  Catesby  say :  "  It  was 
Tresham's  fault.  He  broke  the  lantern,  and  it 
went  out  every  time  we  tried  to  give  the 
signal." 

Wrestling  did  not  wait  another  instant,  but 
ran  around  to  the  Mews,  where  Fawkes  kept 


178  PATIENCE. 

his  horse,  and  saddling  it  in  hot  haste  mounted 
and  rode  toward  Warwick.  Percy  would  not 
start  until  informed  of  Fawkes'  arrest  or  escape, 
and  that  would  not  be  until  after  daybreak. 
He  must  find  Father  Greenway  first,  and  he 
had  a  start  of  two  good  hours.  He  was  sure 
that  he  could  do  it,  and  he  rode  through  Lon- 

'  O 

don  at  a  leisurely  trot.  He  threw  a  kiss 
toward  the  dark  mass  of  the  Tower  outlined 
against  the  starlit  sky,  and  thought  how 
strange  it  was  that  he  should  be  thankful  that 
Sir  Walter  was  safely  locked  within  it.  It  was 
two  o'clock  when  he  cantered  out  of  Southgate 
and  settled  down  to  a  good  steady  pace,  as 
rapid  a  one  as  he  felt  that  the  piebald  could 
keep  up,  until  breakfast  time  at  Aylesbury. 
The  racer's  mettle  was  good,  and  he  strained 
hard  at  his  bit ;  but  horse  and  rider  were  both 
very  tired,  and  it  was  nearly  noon  when  they 
rode  into  Aylesbury,  having  accomplished  the 
first  third  of  their  journey.  Mr.  Brewster  had 
provided  Wrestling  with  money,  and  he  had 
the  horse  rubbed  down  and  fed  at  the  inn  and 
he  himself  breakfasted  and  rested  for  an  hour. 
Then,  refreshed  and  encouraged,  he  sprang  into 
the  stirrups  and  rode  on  as  swiftly  as  before  to 
Banbury  Cross,  so  famous  in  nursery  rhyming 
for  hard  riding.  Toward  the  end  of  this  second 


ROSARY   OF  BLOOD  AND   TEARS.      179 

stage  it  was  evident  that  the  faithful  horse  had 
done  all  that  he  could  do,  and  that  he  must 
secure  another  mount  if  he  would  reach  his 
destination  that  night.  There  were  a  number 
of  horses  at  the  inn  stable,  but  they  had  been 
sent  there,  he  was  informed,  by  a  Mr.  Ambrose 
Rokewood  of  Warwick,  for  the  use  of  a  party 
of  gentlemen  who  were  expected  to  hunt  with 
him.  It  was  in  vain  that  Wrestling  insisted 
that  he  was  one  of  the  party ;  the  inn-keeper 
would  not  allow  one  of  them  to  be  taken  until 
assured  either  by  Lord  Catesby  or  by  Mr. 
Percy  that  all  was  right.  "  But  I  am  from  Mr. 
Percy's  house,"  Wrestling  persisted ;  "  I  left  him 
early  this  morning.  It  is  important  that  I 
should  reach  Warwick  before  the  party,  in 
order  that  all  arrangements  shall  be  made." 
The  inn-keeper  looked  at  Wrestling  suspi- 
ciously, then  his  eye  fell  on  his  horse,  and  his 
countenance  lightened.  "  I  believe  you  speak 
the  truth,"  he  said,  "  for  that  is  one  of  ^Roke- 
wood's  horses,  a  twin  to  one  I  have  in  the 
stable.  There  was  to  have  been  a  password. 
If  you  are  sent  by  Percy,  you  doubtless 
know  it.  When  was  this  hunt  to  take 
place?" 

A  sudden  illumination  flashed  across  Wres- 
tling's mind,  and  he  answered  mechanically,  as 


180  PATIENCE. 

though  repeating  a  carefully  drilled  lesson, 
"  After  the  hay  is  cut." 

"Is  it  cut?" 

"  It  is." 

"  Then  take  what  horse  you  will,  in  the  devil's 
name,  and  away  with  you  !  " 

Wrestling  chose  carefully,  and  this  time  stayed 
not  to  rest,  but  gulped  down  the  manchet  of 
bread  and  mug  of  ale  that  were  brought  him,  and, 
leaving  his  winded  steed  for  Percy,  rode  away 
at  the  utmost  speed  of  his  fresh  horse.  It  was 
late  in  the  afternoon  when  he  reached  Clopton 
House.  Owen  Littlejohn  stood  at  the  gate 
lodge,  evidently  expecting  some  messenger,  and 
Wrestling  could  see  that  another  servant  held 
some  horses  ready  saddled  in  front  of  the 
house.  Wrestling  asked  for  Father  Green  way. 

"And  my  little  dandie  prat,"  he  added 
contemptuously,  "  you  will  not  keep  me  cooling 
my  heels  any  longer  than  necessary  if  I  tell  you 
that  I  have  come  to  give  him  news  concerning 
the  cutting  of  a  crop  of  hay  that  he  wots  of." 

"You  have  our  password;  then  go  you  to 
the  house;  Father  Greenway  is  in  the  chapel 
under  the  roof,  saying  a  mass  for  the  dead  who 
died  to-day,  for  he  feared  he  might  not  have 
time  to  do  it  after  the  news  came." 

Wrestling   left   his   horse  with   Owen,  and 


ROSARY  OF  BLOOD   AND    TEARS.      181 

stumbled  up  to  the  chapel.  Father  Greenway 
did  not  hear  him,  for  he  was  chanting  the 
"  Dies  Irae  "  before  the  terrible  picture. 

He  faced  Wrestling  as  he  entered,  and  both, 
were  white  as  death. 

"  Is  it  over  ? "  asked  the  Jesuit. 

Wrestling  shook  his  head.  "You  are  be- 
trayed. Everything  is  known." 

"By  whom?" 

"  Percy." 

"  I  never  trusted  him." 

"  Fly  at  once.  He  is  on  his  way  here,  lead- 
ing the  officers  of  justice." 

"I  shall  be  safe  in  these  walls." 

"You  will  be  safe  nowhere  in  England.  I 
beg  you  to  leave  the  country  at  once." 

"  And  the  others — will  you  warn  them  too  ? " 

"  Where  are  they  ? " 

"They  have  all  gone  to  the  tilting  at 
Kenilworth.  I  alone  waited  here  to  lead 
Catesby  and  Raleigh  and  the  rest  to  them. 
Tell  me,  where  is  Raleigh  ? " 

"  Safe  in  the  tower ;  he  did  not  venture 
forth." 

"  Our  Lady  of  Barcelona  be  praised !  Owen 
shall  ride  to  Kenilworth  and  warn  Sir  Everard 
and  his  friends ;  and  I  will  take  your  advice, 
my  son,  and  flee  while  yet  there  is  time." 


182  PATIENCE. 

"Tben  lose  not  an  instant,  and  stay  not 
until  you  have  put  the  sea  between  you  and 
England." 

"  Your  advice  is  good — that  will  I  do ;  and 
I  will  care  for  the  child  Philippa  in  foreign 
lands.  There  is  one  to  whom  I  would  fain 
send  a  keepsake  and  a  token  before  I  go,  but 
I  have  only  this  rosary  and  breviary.  'Tis  best 
I  should  have  neither  about  me,  in  case  I  am 
captured.  Keep  the  breviary,  my  son,  and  read 
in  it  sometimes  for  the  sake  of  Father  Green- 
way,  and  carry  the  rosary  for  me  with  my 
blessing  to  the  damsel  Patience  Dudley." 

He  handed  Wrestling  a  string  of  curious 
Venetian  glass  beads,  with  occasional  large  ruby 
ones  separating  groups  of  clearest  crystal. 
"It  is  called  a  Cruor  et  lachrymce  Christi 
rosary,"  he  explained ;  "  the  ruby  beads  are  the 
Paternosters,  and  represent  drops  of  Christ's 
precious  blood.  We  tell  an  Ave  Maria  for 
each  crystal  bead,  which  symbolizes  his  all- 
prevailing  tears.  Tell  the  maid  Patience  in 
the  hour  of  her  deepest  anguish  to  hold  the 
rosary  in  her  hands  and  pray,  and  though  she 
is  not  a  daughter  of  our  holy  church,  perchance 
God  will  pity  her  ignorance  and  for  the  sake 
of  her  kindness  to  me  will  send  her  deliver- 


ance." 


EOSARY  OF  BLOOD  AND    TEARS.      183 

"  I  will  take  it,"  said  Wrestling,  "  and  I  will 
give  her  your  message." 

The  Jesuit  disappeared  for  a  moment,  and 
returning,  dressed  in  ordinary  traveling  costume, 
mounted  one  of  the  horses  which  were  in  wait- 
ing at  the  door.  Then  he  lifted  his  hand 
in  blessing,  and  both  he  and  Owen  rode 
away. 

A  great  weariness  stole  over  Wrestling.  He 
knew  that  this  spot  was  a  dangerous  one  for 
him,  that  he  must  not  be  found  here,  either  by 
the  conspirators  or  by  their  pursuers,  who 
would  soon  be  upon  their  track.  He  knew, 
too,  that  there  were  fresh  horses  at  hand,  but 
for  his  life  he  could  not  drag  himself  to  them. 
He  stumbled  into  a  vacant,  quiet  room,  and 
sank  upon  a  luxurious  couch.  As  he  was 
falling  asleep  he  thought  of  the  convicting 
evidence  which  the  paper  in  his  breast,  with 
the  names  of  the  Puritans  at  Scrooby,  might 
furnish  to  Cecil,  and  of  the  rosary  and  breviary, 
equally  impossible  to  be  explained  if  found 
upon  him.  There  was  a  low  fire  burning  upon 
the  hearth,  and  he  thought  how  easy  it  would 
be  to  burn  the  paper;  and  if  he  could  only 
rouse  himself,  he  might  hide  the  priest's  gifts. 
He  took  them  drowsily  from  his  breast  and 
tried  to  summon  resolution  sufficient  to  carry 


184  PATIENCE. 

his  intention  into  effect,  but  overwrought 
nature  refused  to  obey,  and  he  fell  asleep 
again,  deeply  asleep,  with  the  paper,  the 
rosary,  and  the  breviary  dropping  from  his 
nerveless  hand. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


PILGRIMS    AND    STRANGERS. 

Mutations  great,  some  joyful  and  some  sad, 

In  this  short  pilgrimage  I  oft  have  had. 

I've  seen  from  Rome  an  execrable  thing, 

A  plot  to  blow  up  nobles  and  their  King. 

I've  seen  a  prince,  the  glory  of  our  land, 

In  prime  of  youth  seized  by  Heaven's  angry  hand, 

Which  filled  our  hearts  with  fears  with  tears  our  eyes, 

Wailing  his  fate,  and  our  own  destinies. 

— ANNE  DUDLEY  BRADSTREET. 

ORROR,  wonder,  and 
the  awe-struck  voice 
of  thanksgiving," 
says  Carlyle,  "  rose 
with  mutual  consent 
from  broad  England 
with  the  discovery 
of  the  Gunpowder 
Plot." 

None  were  more 
horrified  than  the 
Puritans,  whom  their 

enemies  had  vainly  striven  to  implicate  in  it. 

Many  Catholics  who  suffered  as  accessory  were 

185 


186  PATIENCE. 

probably  as  innocent,  for  the  true  story  of  that 
conspiracy  will  never  be  known. 

Fawkes,  seized  amidst  the  gunpowder  with 
the  fuse  upon  his  person,  was  tried,  and 
acknowledged  his  own  guilt,  but  even  under 
torture  would  not  inform  upon  his  accomplices. 
He  was  executed  in  the  brutal  manner  of  the 
time. 

Sixty  Catholic  gentlemen,  it  was  said,  had 
met  at  Clopton  House  to  join  the  Warwick- 
shire hunt,  but  learning  in  what  a  disappoint- 
ing manner  the  hay  had  been  cut,  they  had 
galloped  for  life  in  various  directions.  The 
principal  conspirators,  kept  together  by  Percy, 
had  made  their  last  stand  at  Stephen  Little- 
ton's house,  at  Holbecke  in  Staffordshire, 
which  they  turned  into  a  fort,  and  where  they 
were  attacked  by  the  sheriff  of  Warwickshire 
and  his  posse.  Here  they  fought  desperately 
for  their  lives,  and,  "  their  faces  grimed  with 
powder  smoke,  bathed  in  sweat  or  grim  in  the 
last  death  paleness,  they  were  all  killed,  or 
else  taken  wounded  and  then  hanged  and 
beheaded." 

Among  those  killed  at  the  assault  were  Lord 
Catesby  and  the  traitor  Percy.  Cecil  made  a 
great  show  of  having  sent  a  messenger  to  the 
sheriff  to  insist  that  Percy  should  be  taken 


•^•tt- 


PILGRIMS  AND  STRANGERS.         187 

alive,  but  the  messenger  rode  so  slowly  that  he 
did  not  arrive  in  time,  and  it  was  asserted  that 
Cecil  neither  dared  to  shield  him  nor  to  abide 
the  result  of  his  confessions.  Tresham,  who  had 
not  fled,  but  had  remained  quietly  in  his  house 
in  London,  trusting  probably  in  Cecil's  protec- 
tion, was  arrested  and  sent  to  the  Tower.  But 
he  was  never  brought  to  trial,  dying  in  his  cell 
mysteriously — as  it  was  surmised,  of  poison.  If 
he,  like  Percy,  was  in  the  service  of  Cecil,  his 
death,  before  torture  should  wring  the  truth 
from  him,  was  opportune  for  his  patron. 

Father  Garnet,  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  in 
England,  remained  for  some  time  in  hiding  in 
a  priest's  hole  in  Hudlipp  Hall,  where,  though 
the  house  was  occupied  by  the  officers  of  the  law, 
he  was  not  discovered  for  several  days.  There 
was  a  small  hole  in  the  chimney  connecting 
with  his  secret  chamber.  Through  this  hole 
he  could  thrust  a  straw  into  a  soup-pot  hang- 
ing on  the  crane,  and  so  su«k  nourishment. 
He  was  forced  out,  not  by  hunger,  but  by  lack 
of  ventilation. 

It  was  Cecil's  great  effort  to  make  it  appear 
that  the  plot  was  originated  by  the  Jesuits, 
and  Father  Garnet  was  executed  under  this 
accusation.  He  protested  that  he  had  had  but 
a  vague  intimation  under  seal  of  confession 


188  PATIENCE. 

that  such  a  movement  was  in  contemplation, 
and  that  he  had  opposed  it  with  horror ;  and 
this  was  probably  the  truth. 

While  William  Brewster  and  his  family 
shared  the  general  indignation,  they  had  a  more 
personal  cause  for  alarm  in  the  disappearance 
of  Wrestling,  of  whose  whereabouts  no  trace 
could  be  found  after  he  parted  from  Lord  Rich 
with  the  avowed  intention  of  taking  Guy 
Fawkes'  horse  to  him  and  then  returning  home 
by  post.  William  Brewster  was  also  plunged 
into  a  sea  of  trouble  and  apprehension  by  a 
persecution  of  the  churches  of  which  he  was 
the  protector,  which  now  broke  out  with  great 
animosity.  Scarcely  a  day  passed  but  some 
member  was  arrested  and  taken  to  prison  or 
fined  or  threatened.  He  spent  his  time  in 
answering  summons,  in  pleading  the  cause  of 
those  arrested  before  the  magistrates,  in  stand- 
ing bail,  and  in  attending  to  the  necessities  of 
their  families,  much  to  the  prejudice  of  his 
own  fortune.  He  was  distracted  in  mind,  for 
his  correspondence  with  Lord  Rich  in  regard 
to  Wrestling  had  been  fruitless,  and  he  was 
most  desirous  of  going  to  London  to  prosecute 
the  search  personally.  He  was  on  the  point  of 
setting  out  when  George  Sandys,  the  scholar 
and  youngest  son  of  the  Archbishop,  called  on 


PILGRIMS  AND  STRANGERS.         189 

his  way  to  London.  He  brought  William 
Brewster  a  warning  from  his  brother,  Sir 
Edwin  Sandys,  who  had  written  that  some 
person  of  influence  had  recommended  that  his 
office  of  master  of  the  post  should  be  con- 
ferred on  another.  Sir  Edwin  counseled 
Brewster  to  be  particularly  punctilious  in  ful- 
filling its  duties,  and  on  no  account  to  absent 
himself  for  so  much  as  a  day,  so  as  to  give 
no  excuse  to  his  enemies  for  asking  his  re- 
moval. "  My  brother,"  said  George  Sandys, 
"  has  also  been  asked  to  grant  the  lease  of  this 
house  to  another,  and  to  turn  you  out  of  doors, 
but  that  he  will  not  do." 

"  I  thank  him  for  his  friendship,"  said  Wil- 
liam Brewster  sadly,  "  but  it  cannot  avail  me 
long;  another  of  my  poor  people,  Gervase 
Neville,  was  carried  from  his  home  and  im- 
prisoned in  York  Castle  for  obstinacy  to-day. 
It  will  be  my  turn  soon.  The  only  way  to 
save  the  church  and  its  members  from  further 
persecution,  perhaps  from  death,  is  by  removal 
to  some  country  where  religious  toleration  is 
practiced.  This  task  I  have  set  myself  to 
accomplish ;  but  I  would  that  I  might  find  my 
son  before  our  departure." 

"  My  brother  will  do  all  that  can  be  done," 
said  George  Sandys ;  "  trust  him  with  that  task. 


190  PATIENCE. 

He  hath  power  and  a  long  head,  and  great  love 
for  you." 

"  I  know  that  well,"  replied  Brewster,  "  but 
as  member  of  Parliament  he  is  greatly  occu- 
pied with  weighty  cares,  and  he  cannot  search 
London  as  I  would  search — through  every 
prison,  through  every  haunt  of  violence.  He 
would  not  know  Wrestling  if  he  saw  him,  or 
forgive  him  if  he  found  him  in  sin  as  I  would, 
for  whether  sinned  against  or  sinning  he  is  still 
my  son.  God  knows  I  would  die  for  thee,  my 
son — my  son  ! " 

Love  stole  to  his  father's  side  and  threw  his 
arm  around  his  neck.  "Let  me  go  with  Mr. 
Sandys  to  London.  I  will  put  myself  under 
Sir  Edwin's  orders,  and  be  arms  and  legs  to 
his  head,  and  between  us  we  shall  find  Wrest- 
ling." 

George  Sandys  had  spoken  truly  when  he 
said  that  his  brother  had  a  long  head,  for  he 
conducted  the  search  with  great  shrewdness 
and  caution.  He  reasoned  that  there  were 
several  possible  explanations  of  the  mystery, 
all  demanding  delicate  procedure. 

First,  Wrestling  might  have  joined  in  Guy 
Fawkes'  conspiracy  willingly.  In  which  case 
there  were  two  alternatives :  either 

(a)  He  had  been  captured ;  or, 


PILGRIMS  AND  STRANGERS.        191 

He  bad  escaped. 
The  first  supposition  was  not  likely,  as  the 
lad  had  not  been  named  in  any  list  of  the 
conspirators,  nor  was  he  discoverable  in  any 
prison.  The  second  conclusion,  though  dis- 
believed by  William  Brewster,  was  possible. 
If  correct,  it  was  most  important  that  his  safety 
should  not  be  jeopardized  by  attracting  atten- 
tion to  him ;  and  the  only  resource  for  his 
friends  was  patient  waiting,  for  after  the  hue 
and  cry  had  died  away  Wrestling  would  with- 
out doubt  communicate  with  them.  This  was 
the  view  taken  by  Lord  Rich,  with  whom  Sir 
Edwin  Sandys  had  had  a  not  altogether  pleas- 
ant interview,  for  the  two  men  were  opposed 
politically.  Lord  Rich  would  hear  to  no  other 
possibility  in  the  case,  and  when  Sir  Edwin 
suggested  a  second  explanation  of  the  mystery, 
— namely,  that  the  boy  was  the  victim  of  some 
unknown  enemy, — Lord  Rich  scoffed  at  the 
notion  with  such  contempt  that  Sir  Edwin 
took  his  leave  with  scant  courtesy.  Very 
naturally,  he  dwelt  with  the  more  persistence 
on  this  second  explanation  because  it  had  been 
treated  with  such  disdain,  and  strove  to  follow 
its  lead  to  its  logical  conclusions.  Supposing 
that  the  boy's  disappearance  had  been  effected 
by  an  enemy.  Who  was  it  ?  He  must  be  either 


192  PATIENC& 


An  enemy  for  personal  reasons  ;  or, 
(£)  An  enemy  for  political  reasons. 
Wrestling  was  too  insignificant  a  person  to 
have  on  his  own  account  a  powerful  enemy,  so 
his  father  and  so  Sir  Edwin  thought.  It  was 
more  likely,  therefore,  that  he  was  persecuted 
for  his  father's  religious  and  political  opinions. 
If  so,  the  persecution  would  not  cease  with 
Wrestling.  What  made  this  last  conclusion 
seem  the  true  one  was  the  fact  that  persecution 
had  fallen  upon  Brewster  and  the  Scrooby 
Church  almost  simultaneously  with  the  disap- 
pearance of  Wrestling.  Sir  Edwin  Sandys 
could  not  refrain  from  connecting  the  two  cir- 
cumstances and  referring  them  to  a  common 
agent.  It  was  easy  to  trace  the  persecutions  to 
Cecil,  therefore  he  became  convinced  that  Cecil 
had  detained  the  boy  for  purposes  of  his  own. 
What  these  purposes  were  he  could  not  fathom. 
The  persecutions  against  the  Separatists,  as 
Cecil  must  have  foreseen,  would  have  the  effect 
to  make  them  resolve  to  emigrate,  and  this 
was  probably  exactly  what  Cecil  wished  ;  but 
Wrestling's  detention  could  not  further  this 
scheme,  but  would  rather  hinder  his  father. 
Was  it  possible  that,  while  it  was  Cecil's  desire 
to  force  the  Separatists,  as  a  body,  to  leave  the 
kingdom,  as  the  easiest  way  of  disposing  of 


PILGRIMS  AND   STRANGERS.         193 

them,  he  had  some  personal  grudge  against  their 
leader,  and  desired  to  keep  him  within  his 
power  ?  Acting  upon  this  possibility,  Sir  Ed- 
win wrote  Brewster  to  hasten  his  departure, 
without  waiting  either  for  the  discovery  of 
Wrestling  or  the  return  of  Love,  as  both  of  the 
boys  could  join  him  later  in  the  Netherlands. 
Shortly  after  this  the  Scrooby  Church  decided, 
in  the  quaint  words  of  their  secretary,  William 
Bradford,  "that,  seeing  themselves  thus  mo- 
lested and  that  there  was  no  hope  of  their  con- 
tinuance, by  a  joynte  consente  they  resolved  to 
goe  into  ye  Low  Countries,  where  they  heard 
was  freedome  of  Religion  for  all  men ;  as  also 
how  sundrie  from  other  parts  of  ye  land  had 
been  exiled  and  persecuted  for  ye  same  caiise, 
and  were  gone  thither  and  lived  at  Amsterdam." 
It  was  easier  to  resolve  to  remove  than  to  carry 
out  the  resolution,  and  it  was  over  a  year  before 
the  members  of  the  church  at  Scrooby  and  its 
vicinity,  who  now  called  themselves  the  Pil- 
grims, were  able  to  start  upon  their  pilgrimage. 
In  the  meantime  Love  sought  for  his  brother 
with  unfailing  determination,  but  with  a  heavy 
heart,  from  which  hope  was  fading  day  by  day. 
Almost  his  first  errand  on  reaching  London  had 
been  to  see  Patience.  Lady  Rich  had  accom- 
panied the  court  to  its  winter  quarters  at  White- 


194  PATIENCE. 

hall  Palace,  and  had  rooms  assigned  her  in  the 
apartments  of  the  maids  of  honor,  near  the 
tennis  court.  The  latter  part  of  her  visit  at 
Warwick  Castle  had  not  been  particularly 
agreeable,  for  her  host,  Sir  Fulke  Greville,  had 
fancied  that,  as  he  had  laid  out  immense  sums 
on  the  restoration  of  the  castle,  he  had  some 
claim  to  the  title  of  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  was 
much  chagrined  when  the  King  bestowed  it  on 
Lord  Rich ;  while  Lady  Rich  felt  that  the 
title  without  the  castle  was  but  an  empty 
honor,  and  had  injudiciously  hinted  to  some 
babbling  friend  that  events  might  occur  which 
would  unite  the  estates  to  the  title.  The  Dud- 
leys had  held  both  before  Sir  Fulke,  and  if  it 
could  be  established  that  Ambrose  Dudley  had 
left  an  heir  or  heiress,  Sir  Fulke's  title,  though 
dearly  paid  for,  was  hardly  worth  the  paper  it 
was  written  on.  Just  how  the  Dudley  claims 
were  to  be  transferred  to  the  Rich  family  Lady 
Penelope  did  not  condescend  to  explain,  but 
the  other  ladies-in-waiting  were  not  destitute  of 
eyes  or  of  imaginations,  and  began  to  treat  Pa- 
tience with  great  friendliness,  and  took  them- 
selves considerately  out  of  the  way  whenever 
Lord  Robert  visited  his  mother.  The  King 
and  Queen,  too,  had  taken  Lady  Penelope  into 
high  favor,  and  the  King  had  conferred  upon 


PILGRIMS  AND   STRANGERS.         195 

her  the  rank  of  her  brother,  the  Earl  of  Essex, 
and  had  caused  her  apartment  at  Whitehall  to 
be  elegantly  furnished. 

George  Sandys  and  Love  Brewster,  after  wan- 
dering through  an  entire  wing  of  the  palace,  at 
length  found  Patience  in  a  boudoir  which  seemed 
to  Love  the  most  exquisite  room  he  had  ever 
seen.  One  entire  side  was  a  long,  projecting 
bay-window,  in  the  Jacobean  style  of  architec- 
ture, with  glass  of  many  colors  in  little  leaded 
panes.  Like  the  Duchess  of  Portsmouth's 
dressing  room  in  the  same  palace,  described  by 
Evelyn,  the  other  walls  were  hung  with  tapes- 
try representing  "figures  and  landskips,  ex- 
otiq  fowls,  and  all  to  the  life  rarely  don.  Then 
for  Japan  cabinets,  serenes,  pendule  clocks, 
greate  vases  of  wrought  plate,  chimney  furni- 
ture, sconces,  etc.,  out  of  number." 

Patience  herself  was  more  regal  than  her  sur- 
roundings, and  had  blossomed  so  suddenly  from 
his  forest  playmate  into  a  court  lady  that  Love 
stood  before  her  quite  abashed.  But  she 
greeted  them  both  with  such  evident  joy  that 
the  old  assurance  of  friendship  returned  with  a 
rush,  and  they  were  soon  talking  with  the  ut- 
most confidence  and  freedom.  Patience  was 
consumed  with  anxiety  on  Wrestling's  account, 
and  she  blamed  herself  not  a  little  for  having 


196  PATIENCE. 

led  Lim  into  danger.  She  told  of  her  meetings 
with  the  Jesuit,  and  how  she  had  written 
Wrestling,  urging  him  to  do  the  priest's  er- 
rand for  her  sake.  She  told  them,  too,  of  a 
strange  experience  of  which  she  had  never 
spoken  to  anyone. 

Before  coming  with  Lady  Rich  to  Whitehall 
they  had  made  another  call  upon  Lady  Joyce 
Carew,  who  had  returned  with  her  husband  to 
Clopton  House,  which  had  gained  great  noto- 
riety from  the  tragic  ending  of  the  hunt  which  had 
met  there  during  its  brief  tenancy  by  Rokewood. 

The  Countess  of  Warwick  was  full  of  curi- 
osity to  learn  all  the  particulars,  and  again  vis- 
ited, with  her  friend,  the  little  chapel  with  its 
frightful  altar-piece  of  the  Last  Judgment, 
which  had  now  been  discovered  to  be  a  sliding 
panel,  the  door  to  the  Priest's  Hole. 

Patience  peered  into  the  dark  opening,  but 
kept  her  own  counsel  as  to  her  experiences 
on  the  night  when  she  had  been  Lady  Carew's 
guest.  It  all  came  back  to  her  so  vividly  that 
she  became  suddenly  dizzy  on  descending  the 
staircase  ;  and  Lady  Joyce,  noticing  her  white 
face,  pressed  her  to  lie  down  on  a  couch  in  one 
of  the  lower  rooms.  Here,  while  the  two  ladies 
left  her,  she  fell  into  a  clairvoyant  state,  or  pos- 
sibly dreamed  a  remarkable  dream, 


PILGRIMS  AND   STRANGERS.        197 

It  seemed  to  her  that  she  again  saw  the 
Jesuit  enter  the  room  by  the  fireplace.  He 
did  not  notice  her,  but  appeared  to  be  searching 
for  something.  He  ransacked  the  bookcases, 
opened  cabinets,  crouched  upon  his  hands  and 
knees,  looking  under  the  furniture,  rummaged 
behind  the  picture  frames,  and  finally  bent 
over  her  and  slipped  his  thin  hand  under  the 
cushion  upon  which  her  head  was  resting.  As 
he  did  so  she  summoned  all  her  energy  and  sat 
up,  and  the  Jesuit  spoke  in  a  low  voice,  but 
with  great  distinctness  : 

"Wrestling  Brewster,  you  should  have 
guarded  with  greater  care  the  rosary  which  I 
intrusted  to  you  to  give  to  Patience  Dudley." 

"  But  I  am  not  Wrestling ! "  the  girl  cried. 

"  Nay,  but  I  am,"  said  the  Jesuit ;  and  Pa- 
tience saw  that  the  priest  had  vanished.  In  his 
place,  on  his  knees  beside  her,  was  Wrestling, 
lookinsr  at  her  with  sad  earnestness  with  the 

O 

blue  eye,  which  formed  such  a  startling  con- 
trast to  his  black  hair. 

"  Father  Green  way's  gift  is  under  the 
cushion,"  he  said,  "  I  had  only  time  to  slip  it 
there  before— 

With  a  cry  of  joy  Patience  threw  her  arms 
around  the  neck  of  her  old  friend.  The  stal- 
wart form  which  should  have  supported  her 


198  PATIENCE. 

melted  away  as  she  threw  herself  upon  it,  and 
she  fell  heavily  upon  the  floor.  Fortunately 
no  one  had  heard  her  outcry  or  her  fall,  and, 
thoroughly  shaken  out  of  her  strange  condition 
of  second  sight,  she  staggered  back  to  the  couch. 
Involuntarily  her  hand  slipped  under  the 
cushion  and  touched  several  objects.  Trem- 
bling, she  sat  up  and  lifted  aside  the  cushion. 
There  lay  a  rosary  of  ruby  and  crystal  beads,  a 
breviary  containing  the  name  of  Father  Green- 
way,  and  a  folded  paper.  This  she  opened,  and 
was  astonished  to  read  a  compact  approving  of 
the  schemes  of  Guy  Fawkes  signed  by  her 
friends  of  the  Separatist  church  at  Scrooby. 
She  carefully  concealed  these  articles  about  her 
own  person,  and,  realizing  their  incriminating 
nature,  (although  she  believed  the  compact  a 
forgery),  said  nothing  of  her  discovery  until 
her  interview  with  Love  and  with  George 
Sandys. 

If  only  she  could  have  controlled  herself 
while  the  phantom  Wrestling  was  speaking  to 
her !  Then,  perhaps,  he  would  have  told  her 
more.  He  had  only  time  to  conceal  these  ob- 
jects before — what  ? 

Neither  he  nor  Father  Greenway  had  been 
taken  at  the  last  stand  made  by  the  conspirators, 
at  Stephen  Littleton's,  and  her  mind  accepted 


PILGRIMS  AND   STRANGERS.         199 

the  comforting  conclusion  that  they  had 
escaped  together.  It  was  a  confirmation  to 
this  theory  that  Lord  Rich,  from  his  different 
point  of  view  and  other  data,  had  arrived  at  the 
same  belief. 

Love,  who  knew  of  the  theft  of  the  signa- 
tures from  the  church  record,  pointed  out  the 
place  where  they  had  been  pasted  on  the  com- 
pact, and  was  sure  that  this  must  have  been 
the  work  of  the  Jesuit.  "  I  will  show  the 
paper  and  the  breviary,"  he  said,  "  to  Sir  Edwin 
Sandys,  who  may  gain  some  clew  from  it ;  but 
keep  the  rosary,  since  it  seems  that  it  was  in- 
tended for  you." 

George  Sandys  listened  with  interest,  and 
appeared  to  have  gained  a  new  idea.  "  My 
brother  has  already  seen  Guy  Fawkes,"  he 
said,  "  who  would  answer  none  of  his  ques- 
tions; but  we  have  not  approached  Sir 
Walter;  he  may  be  able  to  give  us  the 
explanation." 

As  they  were  speaking  Lord  Rich  entered, 
and  though  he  bowed  with  exaggerated  cour- 
tesy when  Patience  introduced  her  friends,  he 
treated  them  with  such  hauteur  that  they  felt 
that  their  visit  was  not  acceptable,  and  pres- 
ently took  their  departure. 

"  I  will  walk  with  you  across  the  gardens," 


200  PATIENCE. 

Patience  exclaimed  impulsively,  "for  I  have 
not  said  one-half  of  what  I  would  like." 

"  In  that  case,"  said  Lord  Rich,  "  I  shall  re- 
quest my  mother  to  accompany  you,  for  I  can- 
not allow  you  to  make  yourself  the  mark  for 
the  gossip  of  the  court,  by  strolling  so  conspic- 
uously with  two  such  handsome  gallants." 

As  Patience  had  frequently  walked  in  the 
garden  with  Lord  Rich,  she  was  somewhat  sur- 
prised by  this  excess  of  decorum,  but  she 
waited  without  comment  until  the  arrival  of 
Lady  Penelope,  who  appropriated  George 
Sandys  as  an  escort,  leaving  Patience  to  follow, 
accompanied  by  Love  and  Lord  Rich. 

Lady  Rich  gave  the  signal  for  parting  at  the 
famous  sun-dial,  of  which  Mar  veil  wrote  bitterly: 

"  This  place  for  a  dial  was  too  insecure, 
Since  a  guard  and  a  garden  could  not  it  defend, 
For  so  near  to  the  court  they  will  never  endure 
Any  witness  to  show  how  their  time  they  misspend." 

Here  Patience,  who  saw  that  she  was  not  to 
be  allowed  to  speak  to  Love  alone,  plucked  up 
courage  to  say  what  was  in  her  heart  before  the 
others. 

"  And  so,  dear  friend,  I  shall  pray  every  night 
for  your  success  in  your  quest.  And  think  not 
that  I  stay  at  court  because  I  am  dazzled  by 


PILGRIMS  AND  STRANGERS.        201 

all  this  magnificence,  or  because,  kind  as  my 
new  friends  are,  I  have  forgotten  my  old  ones. 
I  stay  because  I  hope  some  day  I  shall  meet  the 
King,  when  I  shall  surely  bring  all  these  mat- 
ters to  his  knowledge.  His  Majesty  has  often 
taken  pleasure  in  unraveling  dark  matters.  It 
was  he,  they  say,  that  guessed  out  the  riddle  of 
the  Gunpowder  Plot." 

"  Not  so  difficult  a  riddle,"  sneered  Lord  Rich, 
"when  Cecil  showed  him  the  barrels  in  the 
cellar." 

"  True,"  Patience  persisted,  "  but  he  showed 
a  shrewd  wit  when  he  was  told  that  at  the  trial 
of  the  Countess  of  Exeter  one  of  the  witnesses 
pretended  to  have  heard  a  conversation  while 
secreted  behind  the  tapestry.  His  Majesty  did 
not  believe  this  story,  and,  hunting  one  day  near 
AVimbledon,  galloped  hastily  to  the  castle,  and 
discovered  that  in  the  room  where  the  witness 
had  sworn  she  had  hidden,  the  tapestry  cleared 
the  floor  by  at  least  two  feet,  and  could  in  no- 
wise have  concealed  her.  Since  the  King  took 
so  much  interest  for  the  righting  of  a  just  cause 
once,  I  believe  he  will  again." 

"  Leave  it  to  me,  sweet  Patience,"  said  Lord 
Rich.  "  Trust  me,  I  will  do  all  that  can  be 
done  for  thee ;  and  these  young  gentlemen  will 
act  wisely  if  they  cease  to  intermeddle  in  a 


202  PATIENCE. 

matter  which  they  cannot  help,  and  which  may 
bring  them  into  danger." 

"Indeed,  I  shall  not  cease  my  efforts,"  Love 
said  indignantly  to  his  companion,  as  they 
walked  away.  "  Is  not  Wrestling  my  brother  ? 
and  shall  I  desert  him  for  any  thought  of  danger 
to  myself  ?  Did  not  Patience  say  that  she  would 
die  if  he  perished  through  her  fault?  That 
would  be  enough  for  me.  I  would  seek  for  him 
through  all  the  world  to  make  her  happy,  even 
though  he  were  nought  to  me." 

George  Sandys  looked  puzzled.  "  Think  not 
too  much  on  Patience,"  he  said.  "  I  fear  she  has 
learned  the  way  of  the  court,  if  she  is  not  by 
nature  something  of  a  coquette ;  for  the  Count- 
ess of  Warwick  confided  to  me  just  now  that 
there  is  a  great  match  in  making  for  the  maid, 
and  that  if  her  country  friends  would  not  mar 
her  fortune  they  would  best  not  visit  her  too 
frequently,  lest  they  displeasure  the  bridegroom- 
elect." 

"  It  cannot  be  !  "  Love  exclaimed  hotly.  "  I'll 
not  believe  it.  Yet,  why  not?  Oh,  my  poor 
brother ! " 

George  Sandys  found  it  impossible  to  get  per- 
mission to  visit  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  Since  the 
discovery  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  though  noth- 
ing of  an  incriminating  character  had  been  dis- 


PILGRIMS  AND  STRANGERS.        203 

covered  against  him,  he  had  been  kept  in  closer 
durance,  and  it  was  very  difficult  to  obtain  access 
to  him.  Love  remained  in  London  all  that  win- 
ter, but  he  found  no  clew  to  his  brother's  hiding- 
place.  He  would  not  have  given  up  the  search 
even  now,  had  not  a  call  come  to  him  from  his 
mother,  who  was  in  sore  trouble.  A  new  mas- 
ter of  the  post  had  been  appointed  ;  and  though 
the  manor  house  was  still  at  his  disposal,  Wil- 
liam Brewster  had  thought  best  to  give  it  up, 
as  arrangements  had  been  made  for  the  depar- 
ture to  Holland.  A  ship  w^as  chartered  to  take 
them  to  Boston,  but  after  the  pilgrims  were  all 
on  board  it  was  found  that  the  captain  had 
betrayed  them  to  the  officers  of  the  law,  who 
came  on  board,  arrested  the  entire  company,  and 
carried  them  off  to  prison.  Thomas  Dudley 
interested  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  in  their  case,  and 
through  his  influence  all  but  seven  of  the 
leaders,  among  whom,  was  BrewTster,  were 
liberated.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Madam 
Brewster  had  written  to  Love,  and  that  he  had 
hastened  to  her.  Thomas  Dudley  gave  him 
employment,  and  he  was  his  mother's  comfort 
through  all  the  dark  season  that  followed.  The 
Pilgrims  could  not  organize  another  expedition 
without  their  leaders ;  and  as  they,  poor  people, 
had  disposed  of  their  homes,  they  waited  in 


2o4  PATIENCE. 

much  distress  until  the  following  spring.  Wil- 
liam Bradford  gives  the  story  of  their  second 
attempt  at  departure  so  vividly  that  I  quote  his 
quaint  language : 

"They  made  agreemente  with  a  Dutchman 
having  a  ship  of  his  own  belonging  to  Zealand, 
who  was  to  take  them  in  betweene  Grimsbe  and 
Hull.  The  women  and  children  with  ye  goods 
were  sent  to  ye  place  in  a  small  barke,  and  ye 
men  were  to  meet  them  by  land.  When  ye 
ship  came  the  barke  lay  aground,  and  ye  ship 
maister  sente  his  boate  to  be  getting  ye  men 
abord  whom  he  saw  ready  walking  about  ye 
shore.  But  after  ye  first  boat  full  was  gott 
abord  the  maister  espied  a  greate  company  both 
horse  &  foote,  with  bills  &  gunes,  &  other 
weapons;  for  ye  country  was  raised  to  take 
them.  Ye  Dutchman,  waiged  his  Aucor,  hoysed 
sayles  &  away.  But  ye  poore  men  were  in  great 
distress  for  their  wives  and  children." 

Love  Brewster  was  among  the  men  who  were 
carried  away  against  their  wills.  During  his 
father's  imprisonment  he  had  been  the  protector 
of  his  mother,  and  now  he  feared  that  his 
father,  who  had  remained  with  John  Robinson 
until  the  last,  "to  be  assistante  unto  the 
women,"  would  be  again  imprisoned,  and  he 
was  nearly  frantic  as  he  tried  to  imagine  what 


PILGRIMS  AND  STRANGERS.      205 

would  happen  to  his  mother.  But  the  magis- 
trates were  tiring  of  this  unjust  persecution  of 
helpless  women  and  children.  The  sheriff,  Wil- 
liam Blanchard,  who  had  a  warrant  for  the 
arrest  of  William  Brewster  and  others  for  non- 
conformity, after  visiting  Thomas  Dudley,  whose 
guests  he  shrewdly  suspected  they  were, 
returned  his  warrant  with  the  indorsement, 
which  can  be  read  to-day :  "  William  Blanch- 
ard— certifieth  that  he  can  not  find  the  said 
offenders  nor  can  he  understand  where  they  be." 
And  so,  to  return  to  our  faithful  chronicler : 
"  To  be  shorte,  after  they  had  been  turmoyled 
a  good  while,  notwithstanding  all  these  storms 
of  oppossition,  they  all  gatt  over  [to  Holland] 
at  length,  some  at  one  time  &  some  at 
another,  some  in  one  place  and  some  in  another, 
and  mette  togeather  againe  according  to  their 
desires,  with  no  small  rejoycing."  All  but 
Wrestling.  Love  had  hoped  that  he  might 
have  already  escaped  to  Holland,  and  many  a 
time  his  heart  would  cease  beating  and  a  mist 
rush  to  his  eyes  as  he  thought  he  recognized  his 
sturdy  figure  coming  down  one  of  the  streets  of 
Amsterdam,  but  the  vision  appeared  less  fre- 
quently as  time  went  on  ;  and,  though  Love 
never  forgot  his  brother,  his  absence  became 
less  of  a  pain,  and  expectation  of  ever  seeing 


206  PATIENCE. 

him  again  gradually  faded  from  his  mind. 
Sometimes  when  he  thought  of  Patience  becom- 
ing at  some  future  day  the  Countess  of  War- 
wick, and  remembered  how  Wrestling,  even  as 
a  boy,  had  loved  her,  he  said  to  himself  that  it 
was  better  so,  that  Wrestling,  with  his  intense, 
passionate  nature,  could  never  have  endured  the 
anguish  of  seeing  her  wedded  to  another,  and 
then  Love  was  content  that  he  was  an  exile ; 
for  though  he  told  himself  that  his  only  thought 
of  Patience  had  been  as  the  beloved  of  his 
brother,  and  that  he  would  not  for  worlds  have 
grudged  her  any  happiness,  yet  if  that  happi- 
ness was  to  be  secured  by  her  marriage  with 
Lord  Rich  he  was  glad  that  he  was  not  in  Eng- 
land to  see  it. 

Life  in  this  placid,  thriving  country  was 
so  different  from  the  feverish  stress  to  which 
the  Brewsters  had  been  subjected  that  all 
wounds  healed.  They  had  found  a  haven  of 
refuge,  and  a  great  peace  brooded  over  the  fu- 
gitives, who  were  enjoying  safety  with  liberty, 
and  for  years  lived  in  the  most  ideal  brotherly 
love  with  each  other  and  the  kindly  Hol- 
landers. 

"  What  more  can  a  pilgrim  ask  ? "  said 
Brewster  to  his  wife,  five  years  after  their 
coming. 


PILGRIMS  AND   STRANGERS.        207 

"  '  Give  me  my  scallop-shell  of  quiet, 

My  staff  of  faith  to  rest  upon, 
My  scrip  of  joy — immortal  diet, 
My  bottle  of  salvation.' " 

A  great  yearning  hunger  was  in  the  mother's 
unforgetting  face.  "  It  was  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
who  wrote  that,  was  it  not  ? "  she  said ;  and  the 
unsatisfied  want  smote  the  father's  heart  as 
well.  "  Oh,  that  we  knew  that  it  was  well 
with  Wrestling ! " 

"  It  is  well  with  the  youth,"  said  William 
Brewster.  "  Some  way  in  all  these  years  he 
would  have  sent  us  tidings,  were  it  not  that  he 
had  passed  to  greater  peace  than  ours." 

Love  took  his  hat  and  silently  went  out ;  he 
had  long  ago  come  to  the  same  conclusion ; 
but  he  could  not  bear  just  then  to  look  upon 
his  mother's  face ;  by  and  by  he  wTould  com- 
fort her  by  double  love  and  duty,  if  it  was 
possible  for  her  to  be  comforted. 

At  the  door  he  met  the  letter  carrier  with  a 
letter  for  from  him  England.  It  was  so  unusual 
an  occurrence  that  he  turned  it  over  several 
times  before  opening  it,  trying  to  guess  who 
had  sent  it. 

Then  he  walked  away  to  a  secluded  spot  and 
read  it  when  quite  alone.  It  was  from  Patience 
Dudley,  a  formal  little  letter,  beginning 


208  PATIENCE. 

"Esteemed  Friend,"  and  written  apparently 
simply  to  give  general  news  of  how  matters  were 
going  in  England.  "  My  father  now  deeineth 
that  ye  were  very  wise  in  quitting  this  unhappy 
country,  for  Prince  Henry's  life  is  despaired  of, 
and  if  he  dieth  there  seems  to  be  no  issue  out 
of  our  lamentable  state.  My  father  hath  had 
counsel  with  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  and  holds  for 
a  Puritan  emigration  to  Virginia,  but  first  he 
would  know  how  the  Separatists  prosper  in  the 
Low  Countries ;  and  he  would  be  glad,  if  it 
suited  with  your  father's  occasions,  if  he  could 
come  into  England  and  hold  converse  with  him 
on  these  and  other  matters.  If  your  father  can- 
not  come,  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  me  if  he 
could  make  you  his  messenger ;  and  if  that  may 
not  be  it  would  be  no  small  solace  to  have 
written  word  of  the  well-being  of  our  old 
friends,  and  especially  whether  ye  know  aught 
of  Wrestling.  Once  when  at  court  I  met  the 
King,  and  I  told  him  how  your  brother  had 
disappeared  after  returning  the  horse  of  Guy 
Fawkes*  He  thought  on  it  for  a  long  space, 
and  then  said  :  '  Fear  not  that  your  friend  hath 
been  implicated  with  the  Gunpowder  Plot.  My 
Little  Beagle  hath  a  fine  scent  and  hath  brought 
to  justice  all  on  whom  fell  the  slightest  sus- 
picion, and  I  fear  me  others  too.  If  the  youth 


PILGRIMS  AND   STRANGERS.         209 

should  be  found  in  any  prison,  except  he  hath 
been  regularly  convicted  of  some  heinous  crime, 
he  hath  our  royal  warrant  to  go  free.'  This 
pardon  he  presently  sent  me  ;  and  Prince  Henry, 
who  heard  the  conversation,  questioned  me 
still  further,  and  when  he  heard  (for  this  I  had 
not  told  the  King)  that  Wrestling  had  possibly 
been  apprehended  while  striving  to  aid  the 
Jesuit  in  the  rescue  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  he 
promised  himself  to  question  Sir  Walter  con- 
cerning him.  But  alas !  I  have  heard  no  more 
of  the  matter.  The  Prince  hath  been  ill,  and 
either  he  hath  forgotten  his  promise  or  cannot 
learn  anything,  so  that  though  I  have  a  free 
pardon  for  Wrestling,  unless  you  know  where 
he  is  it  can  effect  nothing.  Write  to  me  in 
care  of  my  father,  for  I  have  long  since  departed 
from  the  Countess  of  Warwick,  owing  to  much 
disquietness  which  I  experienced  while  in  her 
company  at  Whitehall.  And  so,  hoping  that 
you  have  room  in  your  memory  for  your  old 
friend,  I  rest, 

"  PATIENCE  DUDLEY." 

Love's  cheek  grew  very  hot  as  he  read.  So, 
there  had  been  some  disquietness,  and  Lord 
Rich  had  not  attained  his  desires.  He  could 
not  give  her  news  of  liis  brother,  but  she  had 


210  PATIENCE, 

not  in  this  rather  formal  letter  at  all  expressed 
the  warmth  of  her  feeling  for  Wrestling,  and 
it  seemed  to  Love  that  she  referred  to  him  with 
equal  kindness.  Why  could  he  not  in  time 
strive  to  win  her  for  himself  ?  He  placed  the 
letter  within  his  heart,  and  walked  so  far  that 
night  came  down  and  surprised  him  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  the  city,  before  he  came  to 
himself  sufficiently  to  turn  and  walk  home- 
ward. 


CHAPTER  X. 


A    EIFT   IN    THE   CLOUDS. 

Our  thoughts  shall  such  soft  pathos  have 

As  when  a  man  doth  come 
From  wandering  of  many  years 

Back  to  a  silent  home. 
Like  sunshine  on  a  vacant  hearth, 

And  ashes  gray  and  cold, 
And  ghastly  squares  upon  the  wall 

Where  portraits  were  of  old. 

— ROBERT  PALFREY  UTTER. 

EFORE   Love   had 
finished      reading 
Patience    Dudley's 
letter  the  question 
which    had    been   her 
only  reason  for  writing 
was  answered,  and  she 
had  seen  Wrestling. 

When  he  had  been 
awakened  from  his  heavy  sleep  at  Clopton 
House  by  the  hurried  entrance  of  the  fugitive 
conspirators  he  had  only  time  to  thrust  the 
objects — which  Patience  afterward  found — 

211 


212  PATIENCE. 

under  the  cushion,  when   he   was   confronted 
by  Percy. 

When  asked  to  give  an  account  of  himself, 
Wrestling  had  simply  replied  that,  on  hearing 
of  the  failure  of  the  plot,  he  had  fled  hither  to 
warn  Father  Greenway.  Percy  had  no  suspicion 
that  he  had  done  so  before  the  arrest  of  Guy 
Fawkes,  but  deemed  it  wise  to  keep  the  boy, 
and  insisted  on  his  accompanying  the  party  to 
Stephen  Littleton's.  Here,  when  taken  by  the 
sheriff,  Wrestling,  unfortunately  for  himself, 
refused  to  give  his  name.  Percy  was  killed, 
and  none  of  the  others  knew  who  he  was,  but 
they  had  heard  him  speak  of  the  Jesuits,  and 
he  was  designated  in  the  report  made  to  Cecil 
as  a  "  servant  to  Father  Greenway."  The  astute 
Cecil  immediately  guessed  that  he  was  the  lad 
who  had  been  the  Jesuit's  intermediary  with 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  It  was  still  Cecil's  hope  to 
implicate  Raleigh,  and  he  ordered  that  Wrest- 
ling should  be  confined  with  Raleigh,  and  al- 
lowed to  wait  upon  him  as  his  valet.  Between 
the  adjoining  cell  and  Sir  Walter's  there  was  a 
grating  high  in  the  wall,  which  permitted  all 
conversation  to  be  distinctly  heard,  and  here 
Cecil  stationed  one  of  his  creatures  for  several 
days  to  listen  to  what  was  said  by  Raleigh  and 
Wrestling.  Instead  of  discovering  anything 


A   RIFT  IN  THE   CLOUDS.  213 

connecting  Raleigh  with  the  Gunpowder  Plot  or 
with  an  attempt  to  escape,  Cecil  became  con- 
vinced that  the  boy  knew  of  his  own  agency  in 
the  matter,  and  that  his  testimony  would  prove 
most  undesirable.  He  therefore  determined 
that  Wrestling  should  remain  where  he  was, 
virtually  buried  alive.  As  in  the  case  of  Sir 
Walter,  Cecil  neither  dared  to  bring  him  to 
public  execution  nor  to  set  him  at  liberty. 

Raleigh  attempted  to  obtain  his  release,  but 
his  letters  were  inspected  by  the  Governor  of 
the  Tower,  who  warned  him  not  to  persist  in 
efforts  which  were  worse  than  useless. 

Wrestling  also  begged  him  to  attempt  nothing 
until  he  was  himself  at  liberty,  lest  a  more  terri- 
ble fate  should  fall  upon  them  both.  Raleigh 
therefore  determined  to  wait  for  a  more  favor- 
able opportunity,  and  for  seven  years  Wrestling 
lived  in  companionship  with  his  hero.  He  acted 
as  Raleigh's  reader  and  secretary,  and  together 
they  finished  the  first  volume  of  the  "  History 
of  the  World."  He  worked  in  the  little  garden 
in  the  court,  Avhere  Raleigh  was  allowed  to 
cultivate  exotic  plants,  and  in  the  still-house, 
where  he  concocted  his  famous  elixir.  Wrest- 
ling assayed  the  ores  brought  from  El  Dorado 
in  his  little  laboratory.  He  drew  Raleigh's 
maps;  and,  listening  to  his  conversations  on 


214  PATIENCE. 

jurisprudence,  on  shipbuilding,  on  history, 
diplomacy,  and  on  poetry,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
Love,  who  had  now  entered  the  University  of 
Leyden,  was  obtaining  so  liberal  an  education. 
They  were  not  unhappy  years,  and  Wrestling 
could  have  declared  with  John  Bunyan : 

"  Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make, 

Nor  iron  bars  a  cage ; 
Minds  peaceable  and  quiet  take 
Such  for  an  hermitage. " 

At  length  the  long  course  of  study  was  over, 
and  Wrestling  was  graduated  from  what  we 
might  consider  his  University  of  the  Tower. 
Prince  Henry,  who  had  been  in  wretched  health, 
had  rallied  temporarily,  and  visited  Sir  Walter, 
who  was  making  a  set  of  designs  for  his  pleas- 
ure yacht  the  Prince.  This  light  little  craft 
showed  its  good  construction  some  years  after- 
ward, when  it  weathered  a  terrible  storm  while 
bringing  Prince  Charles  back  from  his  ill-fated 
wooing  of  the  Infanta. 

As  Prince  Henry  listened  to  the  explanations 
which  Wrestling  gave  of  the  drawings  which 
he  had  made  under  Sir  Walter's  direction  he 
became  so  interested  that  he  asked  Raleigh  the 
name  of  his  assistant.  On  learning  Wrestling's 
history  the  Prince  remembered  and  reported 
Patience's  intercession,  and  insisted  that  the 


A   RIFT  IN  THE  CLOUDS.  215 

Governor  of  the  Tower  should  release  the  young 
man  on  his  princely  word,  that  the  King  had 
signed  his  pardon. 

The  Governor  might  not  have  done  this  if 
Cecil  had  been  in  power  and  in  London ;  but 
the  Premier  was  very  ill,  and,  it  was  currently 
reported,  could  not  recover.  He  had  gone 
down  to  Bath  only  to  grow  worse,  though  his 
indomitable  will  defied  death.  His  secretaries 
kept  him  informed  of  every  minute  detail  of 
official  business  that  was  transacted  in  his 
absence,  and  he  still  held  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment. 

When  he  knew  that  Wrestling  had  been  set 
at  liberty  he  realized  that  he  had  made  a  great 
mistake  in  not  having  him  executed  while  he 
was  in  his  power.  He  could  not  have  brought 
him  to  trial,  but  there  were  other  ways. 
Tresham  and  Percy  had  died  without  babbling, 
and  he  had  still  trusty  agents  to  do  his  bidding. 
His  first  concern  was  to  ascertain  where  Wrest- 
ling had  gone,  and  when  informed  that  he  had 
set  out  for  Scrooby,  only  delaying  his  journey 
to  learn  from  Lady  Rich's  steward  that  Patience 
Dudley  was  with  her  father  at  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln's  hunting  lodge,  a  look  of  malicious 
satisfaction  settled  upon  his  grim  visage. 
Wrestling  had  two  days'  start  of  the  man 


216  PATIENCE. 

whom  Cecil  would  put  upon  his  track,  but  he 
was  bound  on  a  lover's  errand,  and  there  was 
no  fear  that  he  would  leave  Patience  immedi- 
ately when  once  he  had  found  her.  One  of 
the  most  brutal  ruffians  in  Cecil's  employ  was 
instructed  to  lie  in  wait  in  Sherwood  Forest, 
just  outside  the  entrance  to  the  lodge,  and  way- 
lay the  wooer.  Wrestling  had  left  London 
without  confiding  to  any  of  Cecil's  enemies  the 
conversation  he  had  heard  in  the  vault  of  the 
Parliament  House.  He  must  never  return  to 
tell  of  that  little  act  in  the  drama. 

Meantime  Wrestling,  all  unconscious  of  any 
danger,  was  hastening  toward  his  old  home. 

He  was  a  young  man  of  twenty-one  now,  but 
every  detail  of  that  home  was  stamped  upon 
his  memory,  and  as  he  approached  the  familiar 
region,  riding  by  post,  his  eyes  were  wet  with 
happy  tears  and  his  heart  full  to  bursting. 
He  thought  of  his  mother,  gentle  and  patient, 
with  whitening  hair  and  a  face  that  always 
lighted  with  a  smile,  when  her  glance  rested 
upon  him.  He  had  written  her  many  letters 
from  the  Tower.  It  seemed  to  him  that  some 
must  have  reached  her,  and  that  she  must  have 
written  in  reply,  though  no  word  had  ever  come 
to  him. 

He    was    struck    from   a  distance    by    the 


A  RIFT  IN  THE  CLOUDS.  217 

deserted  appearance  of  the  house,  and  the  post- 
boy deadened  the  blow  of  what  would  have 
been  a  great  shock  by  telling  him  that  the 
family  had  gone  none  knew  whither. 

He  gave  his  horse  to  the  care  of  the  boy 
and,  leaping  the  stile,  strode  across  the  fields 
the  nearest  way.  He  found  a  loose  shutter, 
entered  like  a  burglar,  and  stole  like  his  own 
ghost  from  room  to  room.  It  was  all  so 
familiar  and  yet  so  heart-breaking  in  its  deso- 
lation. It  seemed  to  him  as  he  opened  each 
door  that  here  at  last  he  must  find  everything 
as  it  had  been  and  the  old  loved  faces.  The 
chapel  was  least  changed,  but  he  cared  least 
for  that  room,  and  the  bit  of  Flemish  tapestry 
was  gone  from  the  hall,  though  the  settle 
where  he  used  to  sit  and  study  it  was  still  in 
its  place.  It  seemed  to  him  that  they  might 
have  known  that  he  would  come  back,  and 
that  they  ought  to  have  left  some  word  for 
him ;  but  there  was  no  letter  in  his  own  room, 
where  he  half  hoped  to  find  it,  no  message 
for  him  with  the  strange  care-taker  whom 
he  found  later  at  the  gate-keeper's  lodge. 
He  walked  sadly,  even  bitterly,  through  Sher- 
wood Forest.  Had  they  forgotten  him,  that 
they  deserted  him  thus?  The  tears  came  to 
his  eyes,  but  he  dashed  them  aside.  There.* 


21$  PATIENCE. 

was  still  one  friend  left  who  would  not  forget. 
Patience,  if  she  was  at  the  hunting  lodge,  would 
have  a  welcome  for  him.  But  as  he  entered 
the  forest  he  met  an  aged  man,  who  passed 
him,  turned  and  stared,  and  then  called  to  him 
asking  if  he  were  not  the  son  of  William 
Brewster. 

"  I  am  indeed,"  Wrestling  replied,  "  but  I 
know  you  not." 

"  Yet  I  have  seen  you  as  a  boy  in  this  forest," 
replied  the  old  man,  for  I  am  a  Morton  of 
Bawtry.  Heard  you  never  of  the  Mortons  ? " 

"  Aye,  that  must  everyone  who  has  lived  in 
this  region,  for  Robert  Morton  endowed  there 
the  Hospital  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  with  a 
hermitage  wherein  a  priest  might  have  resi- 
dence to  keep  hospitality  for  poor  people  and 
to  pray  for  the  founder  and  for  all  Christian 
souls." 

"You  remember  well  the  words  of  my 
ancestor's  testament.  Know  you  aught  else  of 
the  Mortons?" 

"I  have  heard  that  Nicholas  Morton,  the 
priest,  came  disguised  to  this  country  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  brought  with 
him  the  Papal  bull  declaring  her  an  excom- 
municated heretic;  and  that  though  a  price 
was  put  upon  his  head,  and  he  was  known  to 


A  RIFT  Itf  THE  CLOUDS.  219 

have  carried  messages  to  and  from  Mary  Stuart 
while  she  was  a  prisoner  at  Fotheringay  Castle, 
scarce  a  score  of  miles  from  here,  yet  he  was 
never  caught." 

The  old  man  looked  at  Wrestling  keenly. 
"That  was  because  my  pursuers  had  not  wit," 
he  replied,  "for  I  perceive  that  thou  hast 
divined  that  I  am  that  Nicholas  Morton.  I 
would  not  acknowledge  it  to  thee  but  that 
I  also  know  certain  passages  of  thy  history 
which  assure  me  that  we  may  trust  each  other. 
I  dwell  now  under  an  assumed  name  near  the 
hospice  founded  by  my  ancestor;  come  and 
share  my  room  to-night,  as  Father  Greenway 
did  before  he  left  England.  He  told  me  of 
thee  and  how  he  owed  thee  his  life.  'Tis  a 
debt  that  any  of  his  brethren  will  gladly  repay 
thee  for  him  if  they  have  opportunity." 

"  I  accept  thy  offer,  Brother  Morton,"  said 
Wrestling;  "I  was  going  on  to  Captain  Dud- 
ley's, but  it  is  almost  night,  the  way  is  long,  and 
I  find  myself  almost  at  the  end  of  my  strength." 

In  accepting  the  hospitality  of  Nicholas 
Morton,  Wrestling  hoped  to  hear  more  of 
Father  Greenway,  and  he  was  not  disappointed. 
The  Jesuit  had  escaped  to  Spain  and  had  gone 
as  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  in  the  New 
World. 


220  PATIENCE. 

The  next  morning  Wrestling  left  his  host  as 
soon  as  he  could  do  so  with  courtesy,  and  again 
set  out  to  call  upon  Patience  and  Captain  Dud- 
ley. But  as  he  passed  the  inn  he  heard  a 
familiar  voice  calling  his  name,  and,  although 
somewhat  changed  by  the  lapse  of  years,  recog- 
nized his  old  friend  George  Sandys.  He 
found  it  impossible  to  tear  himself  away  from 
his  company  until  the  forenoon  had  passed, 
and  they  had  lunched  together,  for  Sandys  had 
much  to  tell  him  of  his  own  family  :  of  Love's 
devoted  search  for  him  in  London ;  of  the 
persecutions  of  the  Separatists,  and  of  their 
removal  to  Amsterdam  and  subsequently  to 
Leyden.  "  But  they  are  not  yet  at  the  end  of 
their  pilgrimage,  or  I  mistake  me,"  said  Sandys, 
"for  America  is  the  place  for  them,  and  for  us 
all.  What  are  you  thinking  of  doing?  I  wish 
you  would  go  to  Virginia  with  me,  or  to  Ber- 
muda. I  am  sure  that  my  brother  could  obtain 
grants  of  land  for  us,  and  we  could  soon 
become  wealthy  planters  and  marry  Indian 
princesses." 

Wrestling  shook  his  head.  "  If  Sir  Walter 
is  pardoned  and  succeeds  in  organizing  his 
expedition  to  El  Dorado,  I  will  go  out  with 
him,  and  if  you  are  on  your  plantation  at  Ber- 
muda I  will  call  upon  you  and  your  Indian 


A   RIFT  Itf  THE  CLOUDS.  221 

beauty ;  but  my  princess  is  here  in  England, 
and  I  shall  have  to  persuade  her  to  emigrate 
before  I  can  settle  anywhere." 

George  Sandys'  face  grew  grave.  "  You 
mean  Patience  Dudley,"  he  said.  And  then 
he  told  Wrestling  of  his  interview  with  her  at 
Whitehall,  and  what  Lady  Rich  had  told  him 
of  her  prospects. 

"  And  is  there  any  truth  in  it,  think  you  ? " 
Wrestling  asked. 

"I  fear  there  is,"  Sandys  replied,  "for  my 
Lord  Rich  is  at  the  lodge  now.  He  came  up 
from  London  yesterday.  I  fear  you  will  only 
give  yourself  pain  by  calling  on  Patience,  and 
that  you  will  find  that  Sir  Philip  Sidney's  rid- 
dle is  yours  as  well." 

"What  was  Sidney's  riddle?"  Wrestling 
asked. 

"  Sir  Philip  had  a  most  detestable  mania  for 
making  puns.  He  made  them  on  his  death- 
bed, and  in  his  deepest  despair — I  wonder  that 
you  do  not  recall  his  verses  to  Stella  : 

"  '  Listen  then,  lordlings,  with  good  care  to  me, 

For  of  my  life  I  must  a  riddle  tell. 
Towards  Aurora's  court  a  nymph  doth  dwell, 

Rich  in  all  beauties  which  man's  eye  can  see, 
Rich  in  the  treasure  of  deserved  renown, 

Rich  in  the  riches  of  a  royal  heart, 
Rich  in  those  gifts  which  give  the  eternal  crown. 


222  PATIENCE. 

Who,  though  most  rich  in  these  and  every  part 
Which  makes  the  patents  of  true  worldly  bliss, 
Hath  no  misfortune  but  that  Eich  she  is.'  " 

"  Nevertheless,"  Wrestling  replied,  "  Pa- 
tience is  made  of  different  stuff  from  Sidney's 
Stella,  and  I  could  never  believe  so  poorly  of 
Patience  as  that  she  could  ever  be  Rich  in  the 
sense  you  mean." 

He  bade  farewell  to  his  tenacious  friend 
and  strode  rapidly  through  the  forest,  wonder- 
ing what  new  impediment  would  arise  to  delay 
him.  He  carried  a  volume  which  Nicholas 
Morton  had  given  him,  and  it  reminded  him 
of  the  many  times  when  as  a  student  he  had 
trudged  through  the  wood  with  his  school- 
books  under  his  arm.  He  had  reached  the 
beginning  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln's  park,  and 
was  skirting  the  low  wall  which  separated  it 
from  the  chase,  looking  eagerly  for  the  well- 
remembered  gap  through  which  he  used  to  pass 
in  taking  the  short  cut  to  the  arbor,  when  he 
heard  at  some  little  distance,  but  coming  rapidly 
nearer,  the  galloping  of  a  horse.  Thinking 
that  only  a  runaway  horse  could  be  taking  so 
mad  a  pace  through  the  forest,  he  stepped  out 
of  the  path,  and  immediately  after  a  man,  hatless 
but  booted  and  spurred,  dashed  by.  In  that 
swift  passage  Wrestling  saw  his  face  distinctly 


A  RIFT  IN  THE  CLOUDS.  223 

— the  low,  ruffian  features  of  the  professional 
cutthroat,  a  bully,  and  an  assassin,  with  corselet 
and  heavy  broadsword  and  a  long,  murderous 
knife  at  his  belt.  He  did  not  see  Wrestling, 
for  he  was  looking  straight  forward  and  duck- 
ing his  head  incessantly  to  avoid  the  overhang- 
ing boughs ;  but  there  was  something  strangely 
familiar  in  his  face,  and  after  a  moment's 
thought  Wrestling  remembered  that  he  had 
seen  it  last  in  the  attack  at  Stephen  Littleton's 
house.  He  could  have  sworn  that  he  was  the 
man  who  had  thrust  Percy's  own  sword  through 
his  heart  when  it  was  offered  in  surrender. 
While  he  was  thinking  of  these  things  a  woman's 
cry  rang  through  the  forest :  "  Help !  help ! 
Murder ! "  and  Wrestling  dashed  forward  in  the 
direction  from  which  the  fugitive  had  come. 
Only  a  little  further  on,  at  the  gap  in  the  wall 
for  which  he  was  looking,  he  came  across  the 
victim  of  the  assassin  and  the  woman  who  had 
uttered  the  cry — Lord  Rich  and  Patience  Dud- 
ley. His  lordship  was  stretched,  wounded 
and  unconscious,  upon  the  ground,  and  Patience 
was  kneeling  beside  him.  As  Wrestling  ap- 
proached she  lifted  his  head  with  her  right  arm 
while  her  left  hand  pressed  firmly  the  wound 
in  his  shoulder.  Wrestling  came  up  behind 
her,  so  softly  that  she  did  not  hear,  and  he 


224  PATIENCE. 

looked  at  her  keenly,  more  interested  in  what 
he  should  see  in  her  face  than  in  whether  the 
man  whom  she  was  holding  so  tenderly  had 
any  chance  for  life.  His  heart  was  so  full  of 
jealousy  at  that  moment  that  if  he  had  read 
love  in  Patience's  eyes  he  could  not  have  lifted 
his  hand  to  aid  his  rival  had  his  life  depended 
upon  it.  But  Patience  turned  and  faced  him 
with  a  look  so  calm  in  its  pleading  that  all  the 
insane  hate  and  suspicion  left  his  heart  and  he 
had  the  heavy  breastplate  unbuckled  in  an 
instant,  the  lace  and  velvet  torn  away,  and 
the  wound  staunched  in  a  more  skillful  way 
than  she  could  have  done  it.  Then  he  bade 
her  hasten  to  the  lodge  for  someone  with  a 
stretcher,  promising  to  remain  with  his  lord- 
ship until  her  return.  She  brought  water  in 
his  hat  from  a  little  brook,  bathed  Lord  Rich's 
face,  and  forced  him  to  drink  a  little ;  and  he 
began  to  babble,  "Don't  say  no,  Patience!" 
Then,  opening  his  eyes  and  recognizing  Wrest- 
ling, he  murmured :  "  You  need  not  have 
stabbed  me.  It  was  you  she  loved — all  the 
time.  I  knew  she  would  come  along  the  path, 
and  I  was  waiting  for  her ;  but  I  knew,  too, 
that  it  was  of  no  use,  for  it  was  you  all  the 
time." 

Wrestling  quieted  him,  and  presently  Cap- 


WOUNDED. 


A   RIFT  IN  THE   CLOUDS.  225 

tain  Dudley  came  with  the  improvised  stretcher, 
and  together  they  carried  him  to  the  lodge, 
where  Mistress  Dudley  met  them,  and  they  laid 
the  wounded  man  in  a  white  bed  which  Pa- 
tience and  she  had  prepared  in  a  large  lower 
room  looking  out  upon  the  formal  flower  beds. 
For  days  they  tended  him,  taking  turns,  for  the 
cut  was  an  ugly  one,  though  Captain  Dudley 
was  sure  from  the  first  that  they  would  pull 
him  through.  As  soon  as  consciousness  was 
restored  he  remembered  how  it  all  happened 
and  absolved  Wrestling  from  any  complicity  in 
the  deed.  When  told  that  Wrestling  had  ap- 
peared at  his  house  in  London  and  had  asked 
for  Patience,  Lord  Rich  had  at  once  surmised 
his  errand  and  had  determined  to  make  one 
last  effort.  "  She  shall  choose  between  us,"  he 
had  said  to  himself ;  "  perhaps  when  she  sees 
him  the  reality  may  not  come  up  to  the  ideal 
which  she  has  cherished  all  these  years,  perhaps 
she  has  had  time  to  reconsider  the  refusal  given 
at  Whitehall  when  she  was  scarcely  more  than 
a  child,  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick  may  stand 
same  chance  as  the  rival  of  a  penniless  ex- 
convict."  But  while  he  believed  that  he  had 
the  advantage,  he  would  not  use  it  unfairly,  and 
he  sent  Wrestling  true  directions  of  where  to 
find  Patience.  Moreover,  on  learning  on  his 


226  PATIENCE. 

arrival  at  Captain  Dudley's  that  Wrestling  had 
not  appeared,  he  did  not,  as  he  easily  might 
have  done,  keep  back  the  news  that  Wrestling 
was  at  liberty  and  on  his  way  to  them  until  he 
had  plead  his  own  cause ;  but  he  told  Patience 
frankly  that  she  would  probably  soon  have 
another  declaration  to  place  beside  his  own,  and 
he  wished  her  to  consider  this  in  giving  him 
his  answer.  Patience  assured  Lord  Rich  that 
if  Wrestling  had  never  existed  her  answer 
must  still  be  the  same ;  but  the  joy  that  flamed 
in  her  face  when  she  heard  that  he  was  free 
was  impossible  for  her  to  conceal  and  for  him 
to  misunderstand.  Lord  Rich  returned  to  the 
inn  at  Scrooby  ;  but  learning  there  that  Wrest- 
ling had  visited  his  old  home  the  day  before 
and  had  gone  away,  he  began  to  wonder  why 
the  young  man  had  not  gone  to  the  Dudleys', 
and  my  lord  determined  to  return  again  to  the 
Lodge.  If  he  was  mistaken  in  thinking  that 
Wrestling  loved  Patience,  if  he  never  came  to 
woo,  perhaps  Patience  would  still  listen  to  his 
own  pleading.  Lord  Rich  felt  sure  that  if 
Wrestling  did  not  go  to  the  Lodge  that  morn- 
ing Patience  would  take  the  little  path  across 
the  forest  to  the  old  manor  house  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York  to  see  if  he  had  been  heard 
from  by  the  care-taker  at  his  old  home; 


A   RIFT  IN  THE   CLOUDS.  227 

and  not  caring  to  appear  again  before  her 
family,  his  lordship  had  awaited  her  coming 
at  the  gap  in  the  wall.  He  had  seen  George 
Sandys  that  morning,  and  scornful  words  had 
passed  between  them,  so  that  when  he  had 
been  set  upon  by  the  cutthroat,  whom  Wrest- 
ling met  a  few  minutes  later  fleeing  from  the 
scene,  Lord  Rich  most  unjustly  connected 
Sandys  with  the  murderous  attack.  The 
ruffian  had  lain  in  wait  at  this  spot  for  Wrest- 
ling, and  had  mistakenly  supposed  that  Lord 
Rich  was  the  man  whom  he  had  been  employed 
to  assassinate. 

Though  wounded,  Lord  Rich  had  endeavored 
to  defend  himself,  but  the  coward  had  dodged 
behind  a  tree,  in  which  his  lordship  buried  his 
sword,  which  snapped  at  the  hilt.  Then  dizzily 
reeling  quite  around,  he  fell,  and  so  Patience 
found  him  shortly  after.  Nursing  the  man 
who  had  received  the  thrust  intended  for  him 
was  in  more  than  one  sense  a  labor  of  love  for 
Wrestling. 

Patience  was  always  waiting  in  the  garden 
when  he  went  off  duty  and  Captain  Dudley 
took  his  place — and  there  was  so  much  to  talk 
about  that  it  was  hard  for  him  to  be  persuaded 
to  take  any  time  for  sleep.  For  Patience  had 
promised  to  be  his  wife  and  to  go  with  him  some 


228  PATIENCE. 

day  to  Virginia.  Lord  Rich  had  joined  their 
hands.  "  A  little  blood-letting,"  he  said,  "  cools 
a  hot  head,  and  since  I  have  had  the  taste  of 
cold  steel  Cupid's  arrows  rankle  less  painfully." 
He  promised  to  aid  them  in  their  plans  for 
emigration  and  was  so  magnanimous  that  he 
won  all  hearts. 

Captain  Dudley  was  well  pleased  with  his 
daughter's  betrothal,  for  William  Brewster  was 
his  old  friend,  and  he  believed  that  Wrestling 
inherited  his  father's  sterling  qualities,  and  pre- 
ferred him  as  a  son-in-law  to  the  impulsive  and 
volatile  earl.  He  had  no  faith  or  hope  in  the 
possibility  that  the  mystery  shrouding  his  own 
origin  could  be  cleared  away  or  his  pedigree 
traced  to  any  of  the  sons  of  Northumberland 
or  the  Button  Dudleys.  He  would  have  felt 
it  no  honor  to  have  been  proved  the  son  of 
Leicester  or  to  have  known  that  royal  blood 
coursed  through  his  veins,  though  his  daughter 
Anne,  in  writing  of  the  ambitions  of  middle  life, 
sings : 

"  Then  with  both  hands  I  grasped  the  world  together — 

Greater  than  was  the  greatest,  my  desire 
And  thirst  for  honor  set  my  heart  on  fire  ; 
My  thirst  was  higher  than  nobility, 
I  oft  longed  sore  to  taste  of  royalty." 


A   RIFT  IF  THE   CLOUDS.  229 

But  Thomas  Dudley  could  have  honestly 
said  : 

"  My  boast  is  not  that  I  desire  ray  birth 
From  kings  enthroned  or  rulers  of  the  earth, 
But  higher  far  my  proud  pretensions  rise, 
The  child  of  parents  passed  into  the  skies." 

Before  Lord  Rich  was  quite  strong  exciting 
news  came  which  called  Wrestling  to  London. 
The  real  king  of  England  had  gone  to  his  ac- 
count, not  the  puppet  James,  but  the  man  who 
had  actually  ruled,  Cecil,  Earl  of  Salisbury. 
Prince  Henry  was  ailing,  and  the  Puritans,  who 
looked  to  him  with  hope  and  to  the  wily  earl 
with  fear,  must  have  felt  that  it  was  an  inter- 
position of  Providence  that  Cecil  should  have 
died  first.  No  one  had  more  cause  to  watch 
with  anxiety  the  duration  of  these  two  lives 
than  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  still  a  prisoner  in 
the  Tower.  Nothing  could  be  done  for  him  so 
long  as  Cecil  lived,  but  when  it  was  known 
that  the  premier  had  expired  on  the  24th  of 
May,  1(512,  while  attempting  to  return  to  Lon- 
don, energetic  efforts  were  made  for  Raleigh's 
release  by  the  Prince  and  his  other  friends,  and 
the  services  of  the  most  able  man  of  his  time, 
Sir  Francis  Bacon,  were  secured  to  effect  this 
end. 

Unfortunately  that  very  summer  the  Prince 


230  PATIENCE. 

took  a  violent  cold  while  playing  tennis,  and 
fell  into  a  fever  which  baffled  the  medical  skill 
of  the  time,  but  has  since  been  surmised  to  have 
been  typhoid.  He  died  on  October  10,  but 
not  before  he  had  wrung  a  promise  from  his 
father  to  pardon  Raleigh  for  his  sake  on 
Christmas  Day.  This  promise  at  the  deathbed 
of  his  son  King  James  remembered  and  con- 
fessed, but  to  his  eternal  disgrace  basely  failed 
to  keep.  He  had  long  before  refused  the 
Prince's  request  to  give  back  to  Lady  Raleigh 
the  beautiful  home  at  Sherbourne,  which  had 
been  confiscated  at  the  time  of  her  husband's  at- 
tainder, for  this  estate  was  desired  by  Carr,  one 
of  the  King's  favorites.  But  it  was  doubtless 
through  his  influence  that  James  gave  Lady 
Raleigh  an  annuity  of  four  hundred  pounds, 
and  a  gift  outright  of  eight  thousand  pounds, 
as  an  equivalent  for  the  landed  property. 

With  this  eight  thousand  pounds  Bacon 
continued  his  efforts.  The  man  who  had  taken 
Cecil's  place  in  power,  if  not  in  actual  office, 
was  George  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and 
Buckingham  was  notorious  for  the  sale  of  his 
influence  with  the  King.  After  three  years  of 
negotiation  James  became  at  length  so  inter- 
ested in  the  story  of  the  gold  mine  of  El  Dorado 
that  he  consented  that  Raleigh  should  be  re- 


A  RIFT  IN  THE  CLOUDS.  231 

leased  from  prison,  to  fit  out  and  conduct  an 
expedition  to  Guiana.  The  eight  thousand 
pounds  (or  as  much  remained  after  the  fees 
of  over  fifteen  hundred  pounds  were  paid  to 
Villiers  and  others)  was  used  for  the  equipment 
of  the  little  fleet.  Buckingham  offered  for 
seven  hundred  pounds  more  than  he  was  paid 
to  obtain  Raleigh  a  free  pardon  from  the  King, 
but  Bacon  advised  Raleigh  not  to  accept.  "  If 
you  come  back  successful  you  will  not  need  it. 
If  unsuccessful  it  would  avail  you  nothing,  for 
other  charges  would  be  trumped  up  against 
you,"  he  argued  ;  "while  money  to  put 
your  expedition  on  the  best  possible  footing  is 
most  needful  to  you  now." 

"  The  Shepherd  of  the  Ocean  "  was  released 
on  March  17,  1615,  after  an  imprisonment  of 
twelve  years,  and  at  once  set  about  gathering 
his  flock  of  seven  small  ships,  which  he  hoped 
would  return  from  their  green  sea-pastures 
heavy  with  golden  fleeces. 

Many  of  his  old  friends  volunteered  to  join 
the  expedition,  and  some  who  had  coveted 
positions  on  his  flagship,  the  Destiny,  were  sur- 
prised and  envious  when  Raleigh  announced 
that  his  lieutenant  was  to  be  a  young  man  who 
had  been  his  fellow-prisoner  for  seven  years. 
Wrestling  had  been  employed  by  Raleigh 


232  PATIENCE. 

before  his  own  release  in  traveling  from  point 
to  point,  overseeing  the  collection  of  supplies 
and  the  equipment  of  the  fleet.  It  was  June  of 
the  year  1617  before  it  was  ready  to  sail,  and 
in  this  interval  Wrestling  visited  his  family  in 
Holland. 

Patience  had  divided  with  him  the  Jesuit's 
gift,  and  each  wore,  hidden  from  sight,  one-half 
of  the  rosary  of  blood  and  tears — fit  emblem  of 
the  vicissitudes  through  which  they  were  to 
pass.  Wrestling  had  also  obtained  the  breviary 
from  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  and  carried  it  with  him. 
When  the  fleet  finally  set  out  from  Plymouth 
two  women  watched  it  from  a  little  headland, 
and  waved  their  scarfs  until  the  Destiny  was 
only  a  speck  upon  the  horizon.  They  were 
Lady  Raleigh  and  Patience  Dudley,  who  had 
gone  down  from  London  together  to  take  fare- 
well of  their  adventurers.  Their  hearts  were 
full  of  apprehensions  of  storms  and  disaster. 
But  the  shipwreck  of  Raleigh's  Destiny  was 
not  to  take  place  on  the  wild  ocean  or  on  any 
foreign  reef  or  rocks.  He  was  to  return,  having 
surmounted  many  perils,  but,  such  are  the  par- 
adoxes of  fate,  might  well  have  envied  his 
young  lieutenant,  who  had  plighted  his  faith  to 
return  for  his  betrothed,  but  would  never  come 
back  to  his  native  land. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


MIGRATURTJS    HABITA. 

Religion  stands  on  tiptoe  in  our  land, 
Ready  to  pass  to  the  American  strand. 

— GEORGE  HERBERT. 

>OON  after  the  Pil- 
grims settled  in 
Amsterdam  cir- 
cumstances arose 
which  made  it 
seem  more  advisable 
for  them  to  make 
Leyden  their  resi- 
dence. Amsterdam 
was  the  metropolis  of 
Holland,  a  populous, 
wealthy  city,  and  as 
such  its  entire  atmosphere  was  saturated  with 
money  getting  and  money  spending.  A  thor- 
oughly worldly,  commercial,  and  extravagant 
manner  of  living  prevailed  among  its  burghers ; 
while  they  found  the  Brownists,  (a  Separatist 
congregation  which  had  emigrated  before  them, 

233 


S34  PATIENCE. 

with  whom  they  had  hoped  to  fraternize),  op- 
posed to  a  democratic  church  government,  jealous 
of  the  newcomers,  and  quarrelsome ;  and  it  soon 
became  evident  that  they  could  not  live  together 
in  harmony.  The  Brownists,  from  living  among 
their  Dutch  neighbors,  who  thoroughly  believed 
in  enjoying  all  the  good  things  of  this  present 
life,  seemed  to  the  Pilgrims  to  have  grown  too 
luxurious.  "  Mistress  Johnson,  the  minister's 
wife,  wore  lawn  coives  [caps],  and  busks,  and  a 
velvet  hood,  and  whalebones  in  her  petticoat 
bodice,  and  worst  of  all  a  topish  hat."  It  is 
true  that  Mistress  Johnson,  who  was  the 
daughter  of  a  well-to-do  Fleet  Street  haber- 
dasher, paid  for  all  of  these  fashionable  extrava- 
gances with  her  own  money;  but  they  were 
deemed  to  argue  too  frivolous  a  mind  for  a 
pastor's  wife.  But  there  was  another  woman 
in  the  Amsterdam  church,  "  an  ancient  widow  " 
whose  name  has  not  reached  us,  but  who 
received  the  unqualified  respect  of  the  Pilgrims. 
This  was  the  deaconess,  of  whom  Governor 
Bradford  writes: 

"  She  did  them  service  many  years,  though 
she  was  sixty  years  of  age  when  she  was  chosen. 
She  honored  her  place,  and  was  an  ornament 
to  the  congregation.  She  usually  sat  in  a  con- 
venient place  in  the  congregation  with  a  little 


MIGRATURUS  HABITA.  235 

birchen  rod  in  her  hand ;  and  kept  little  chil- 
dren in  great  awe,  from  disturbing  the  congre- 
gation. She  did  frequently  visit  the  sick,  and 
called  out  maids  and  young  women  to  watch 
and  do  them  other  helps.  And  she  was  obeyed 
as  a  mother  in  Israel,  and  an  Officer  of  Christ." 
If  the  Dutch  were  kind  to  themselves  in 
deeming  it  no  sin  to  dress  well  and  live  well, 
they  were  equally  kind  to  others.  Brewster 
had  been  struck  during  his  former  visit  with 
the  fact  that  there  were  almost  no  poor  in 
Holland.  There  were  orphanages,  hospitals, 
asylums  for  every  species  of  unfortunate,  old 
men's  homes  and  old  women's  homes,  and  even 
in  the  prisons  the  criminals  were  well  treated. 
The  great  portrait  painters  have  left  us  groups 
of  the  boards  of  managers  of  these  benevolent 
institutions,  in  which  the  lady  presidents  have 
aristocratic  but  kindly  features  ;  the  secretaries 
may  be  plain,  but  they  grasp  their  goose  quills 
with  an  air  of  conscious  ability,  and  the 
treasurers  hold  open  caskets  overflowing  with 
gold  coins  and  strings  of  pearls.  The  question 
of  how  to  maintain  these  charities  pressed  hard 
upon  the  ingenuity  of  these  good  women,  as  it 
does  upon  the  mothers  in  Israel  of  our  own 
day ;  and,  as  in  all  other  countries  and  in  all 
ages,  entertainments  were  made  to  contribute 


236  PATIENCE. 

the  necessary  funds.  In  Portugal  the  sisters 
of  charity  sell  lottery  tickets  for  the  support 
of  their  orphanages,  in  Spain  the  nuns  importune 
you  to  purchase  tickets  to  bullfights.  In  old 
Amsterdam,  as  in  new,  the  theater  gave  benefits 
for  every  charity.  The  managers  of  the  Dutch 
charities  were  even  more  enterprising  than 
those  of  our  own  time.  The  "Academy"  of 
Amsterdam  was  purchased  by  the  Regents  of 
the  city's  orphan  asylum  and  of  the  old  men's 
home.  The  managers  of  these  charities  as  an 
investment  enlarged  and  beautified  this  theater, 
and  gave  plays  here  twice  a  week  to  the  great 
profit  of  these  institutions. 

The  first  drama  presented  was  Vondel's 
tragedy  "  Gysbrecht."  It  was  so  popular  that 
from  the  night  of  its  first  presentation,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  to  the  present  time 
is  has  been  acted  every  New  Year's  Eve  in  the 
theater  of  Amsterdam.  One  of  the  characters 
is  made  to  prophesy  the  future  greatness  of  the 
city: 

"  The  town  of  commerce,  Amsterdam 
Known  round  the  circle  of  the  globe," 

"  which,"  says  Mr.  Van  Noppen,  translator  of 
Vondel's  "  Lucifer,"  "  may  be  interpreted  as 
prophetic  of  the  grandeur  of  the  greater  New 
Amsterdam  beyond  the  sea." 


MIGRATUEUS  HABITA.  237 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  Separatists  ever 
attended  these  plays,  though  they  were  all  of 
an  elevated  character  and  given  as  benefits  for 
charity.  Even  the  Dutch  Puritans  agreed  with 
their  English  co-religionists  in  the  opinion  that 
the  theater  was  "  a  school  of  idleness,  a  mount 
of  idolatry,  a  relic  of  paganism  leading  to  sin, 
Godlessness,  impurity,  and  frivolity,  and  a  mere 
waste  of  time."  In  England  this  was  almost 
true,  but  Shakspeare's  genius  was  to  lift  the 
drama  to  a  noble  position,  and  Milton  the 
Puritan  was  soon  to  be  attracted  by  great 
dramatic  themes  too  sublime  for  actual  presen- 
tation. 

Vondel's  "  Lucifer "  was  published  thirteen 
years  before  "  Paradise  Lost."  Milton  could 
read  Dutch  and  he  doubtless  borrowed  from 
the  Dutch  dramatist,  as  Shakspeare  did  from 
earlier  playwrights.  "  Milton,"  says  Van 
Noppen,  "had  a  wonderful  memory,  which 
involuntarily  emptied  its  gatherings  into  the 
flow  of  his  thought.  That  this  was  not  always 
done  unconsciously  is  known  from  Milton's  own 
confession,  where  he  says :  '  To  borrow  and  to 
better  in  the  borrowing  is  no  plagiarie.'  And 
that  he  bettered  who  can  doubt  ? " 

While  the  Pilgrims  looked  upon  this  rich 
and  pleasant  city  of  Amsterdam  as  too  much 


238  PATIENCE. 

given  to  luxuries  and  temptations  to  worldli- 
ness,  the  more  scholastic  atmosphere  of  the 
university  town  of  Leyden  was  peculiarly 
attractive  to  men  who  believed  in  "  plain  living 
and  high  thinking." 

Leyden  was  at  this  time  "  one  of  the  grandest, 
the  comeliest,  and  the  most  charming  cities  of 
the  world."  One  of  the  professors  of  its  uni- 
versity, Polyander,  was  wont  to  say :  "  Of  the 
four  quarters  of  the  globe  Europe  is  the  noblest. 
The  Low  Countries  are  the  best  part  of  Europe. 
Of  its  seventeen  provinces  Holland  is  the 
richest.  Its  most  altogether  charming  city  is 
Leyden,  while  the  loveliest  street  in  Leyden 
is  the  Rapenburg.  Wherefore  I  am  lodged  in 
the  most  beautiful  spot  in  the  world." 

The  University,  the  glory  of  Leyden,  had 
been  chosen  by  its  people  when  the  Prince  of 
Orange  offered  them  as  a  reward  for  their 
heroic  defense  of  the  city  against  the  Spanish 
either  exemption  from  taxes  or  the  foundation 
of  this  great  school  of  learning. 

At  first  there  were  four  different  depart- 
ments :  divinity,  law,  medicine,  and  the  school 
of  arts,  but  others  were  continually  added. 
Prince  Maurice,  who  had  studied  with  Simon 
Stevinus,  inspector  of  the  dikes,  established  an 
engineering  course,  and  as  quickly  as  a  great 


MIGRATURUS  HABIT  A.  239 

man  made  his  appearance  in  any  department  of 
knowledge,  no  expense  was  spared  by  the 
trustees,  and  even  diplomatic  negotiation  was 
resorted  to,  in  order  to  acquire  him  as  a  pro- 
fessor. It  became  a  matter  of  national  pride 
that  their  university  should  surpass  all  others. 
The  Dutch  fleet  was  deputed  to  escort  famous 
men  to  their  new  home.  Among  the  many 
eminent  men  who  occupied  its  chairs  were  : 
Scaliger,  whom  Hallam  calls  "the  most  ex- 
traordinary master  of  erudition  who  ever  lived  " ; 
Grotius,  still  the  acknowledged  authority  on 
international  law ;  Gornar  and  Arminius  in 
theology,  St.  Aldegonde  in  diplomacy,  Lipsius  in 
history,  Cluverius  and  Peter  Paaw  in  natural 
sciences,  and  Boerhaave  in  medicine.  These 
men  attracted  students  from  all  Europe  and 
from  England  as  well. 

Descartes,  the  great  mechanical  philosopher, 
lived  in  the  suburbs ;  Rembrandt  resided  at  a 
house  on  the  ramparts  on  the  Pelican  Quay 
near  the  White  Gate.  The  castle  crowned  the 
burg,  or  eminence,  around  whose  foot  a  city  of 
one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  clustered, 
with  a  handsome  hotel  de  ville  and  a  cathedral 
of  five  naves.  On  the  south  side  of  the  cathe- 
dral, next  the  belfry,  stood  a  roomy  house,  hav- 
ing a  large  garden  which  was  inclosed  between 


240  PATIENCE. 

the  Veiled  Nuns'  Cloister,  the  University 
Library,  and  the  Donckere  Graft  or  Dark  Canal. 
This  desirable  piece  of  property  was  purchased 
in  the  name  of  John  Robinson,  and  in  the 
garden  twenty-one  tiny  cottages  were  built  for 
the  poorer  members  of  the  congregation. 

In  this  charming  spot  bounded  by  cloister, 
cathedral,  and  library,  with  the  quaintly  cut 
box  hedges  and  beds  of  tulips  mirrored  in  the 
amber  waters  of  the  quiet  canal,  and  the  grand 
old  chimes  flinging  down  their  harmonies  with 
each  stroke  of  the  quarter-hour,  the  Pilgrims 
lived  in  great  love  and  harmony.  The  poorer 
sort  worked  at  trades.  William  Brewster,  who 
resided  in  his  own  hired  house  in  another  part 
of  the  city,  gave  lessons  in  English,  possibly 
under  the  auspices  of  the  university,  "  and  so," 
says  Bradford,  "his  outward  condition  was 
mended,  and  he  lived  well  and  plentifully. 
For  he  fell  into  a  way,  by  reason  he  had  the 
Latin  tongue  to  teach  many  students  [of  the 
University]  who  had  a  desire  to  learn  English  : 
and  by  his  method  they  quickly  attained  to  it 
with  great  facility  ;  for  he  drew  rules  to  learn 
it  by  after  the  Latin  manner.  And  many 
gentlemen,  both  Danes  and  Germans,  resorted 
to  him,  as  they  had  time  from  other  studies : 
some  of  them  being  Great  Men's  sons." 


MIGEATUEUS  HABITA.  241 

For  twelve  years  the  Pilgrims  were  to  enjoy 
the  privileges  of  this  delightful  city.  For  Love 
Brewster  especially  they  were  days  of  rare 
pleasure  and  profit.  He  immediately  recom- 
menced his  interrupted  studies,  fitting  himself 
to  enter  the  University.  John  Robinson  also 
became  a  student  of  the  school  of  divinity,  thus 
acquiring  a  gownsman's  privileges,  and  gaining 
distinguished  honors  in  debate.  In  their  con- 
tempt of  riches  and  the  commercial  life,  the 
Pilgrims  had  the  same  antagonism  for  such 
cities  as  London  and  Amsterdam  as  Thoreau 
might  have  felt  for  New  York,  such  aversion 
as  Lucian  voiced  for  Rome.  Love's  heart 
thrilled  with  sympathy  when  he  found  in  the 
writings  of  the  Greek  sage  these  words :  "  Let 
the  man  who  loves  riches,  dazzled  by  the  glitter 
of  gold,  who  measures  happiness  by  show  and 
power,  never  tasting  the  sweets  of  freedom  nor 
the  frank  intimacy  of  equals,  who  never  faced 
truth,  because  nurtured  always  on  flattery  and 
servility ;  or  he  who  turns  his  mind  to  pleasure 
alone,  worshiping  only  that,  let  such  dwell  at 
Rome :  life  there  is  suited  to  such  corruption." 

The  elevated  thought  and  scholastic  calm  of 
this  university  town  were  especially  agreeable 
to  Love.  There  was  a  boy  of  twelve  living  in 
Leyden  at  this  time  named  Rembrandt  van  Rijn 


242  PATIENCE. 

who  had  begun  to  paint.  Sometimes  he  came 
to  sketch  the  Dark  Canal  behind  the  Veiled 
Nuns'  Cloister  with  an  older  artist  called 
Cuyp. 

These  artists  first  opened  Love's  eyes  to  the 
beauty  of  the  reflections,  showing  him  how  the 
still  water  of  the  "  Donckere  Graft  "  shadowed 
and  harmonized  the  garish  lights  and  colors, 
bringing  them  all  together  in  lower  tones  as  in 
a  Claude  Lorraine  glass.  The  glory  of  sun- 
shine filtering  through  foliage  and  suffusing  the 
red  hair  of  a  peasant  with  a  radiance  like  a 
saint's  aureole  was  another  revelation  which 
Rembrandt  taught  Love  in  the  pretty  garden 
behind  the  belfry.  Love  had  chosen  one  of 
the  cottages  on  whose  "stoop"  the  sunshine 
fell,  and  in  his  imagination  saw  Patience  stand- 
ing there  with  the  aureole  about  her  hair,  look- 
ing for  him  as  he  came  from  the  University. 
He  had  determined  to  go  to  England  to  tell 
her  of  this  dream-picture,  when  one  day  as  he 
came  back  from  the  lecture-room  to  his  own 
home  his  mother  met  him,  and  the  rapture  in 
her  face  told  him  that  Wrestling  Bad  come 
home.  Very  manfully  he  choked  back  all 
personal  hopes,  and  gave  his  brother  a  cordial 
greeting,  wishing  him  all  joy  as  he  told  of  his 
betrothal  to  Patience.  Wrestling  remained 


MiaRATURUS  HABIT  A.  243 

with,  them  but  a  short  time,  for  he  had  much  to 
do  for  Sir  Walter,  but  in  his  brief  visit  he 
wakened  the  spirit  of  emigration  in  the  little 
colony.  In  1614  Robert  Harcourt  had  pub- 
lished a  relation  of  the  first  voyage  to  Guiana, 
and  the  Pilgrims  had  already  discussed  going 
there.  There  were  reasons  why  even  beautiful 
Leyden  could  be  no  "  continuing  city  "  for  the 
exiles,  reasons  which  forced  them  even  here  to 
take  as  their  motto  the  words  we  have  written 
at  the  head  of  this  chapter,  Migraturus  Jidbita 
(I  dwell  as  about  to  depart).  First  of  all,  the 
twelve-years'  truce  between  the  Dutch  and 
the  Spaniards  was  drawing  to  a  close  and  the 
country  was  soon  to  be  plunged  again  in  war ; 
and  the  Pilgrims,  who  were  averse  to  fighting 
other  people's  battles,  saw  with  regret  their 
more  adventurous  sons  enlisting  in  the  Dutch 
army.  The  kindliness  with  which  they  had 
been  received  by  the  Dutch  had  also  a  not  alto- 
gether desired  effect ;  the  young  people  were 
intermarrying  and  dropping  away  from  the 
Puritan  congregation.  They  were  learning  the 
Dutch  language,  and  the  Fathers  saw  that  if 
they  remained  in  Leyden  they  would  lose  their 
individuality  as  to  church  and  nationality,  and 
the  next  generation  would  become  thoroughly 
Dutch. 


244  PATIENCE. 

They  found,  too,  that  they  were  not  quite  out 
of  the  reach  of  English  persecution. 

William  Brewster,  aside  from  his  duties  as  a 
teacher,  had  found  time  to  start  a  successful 
business  as  a  book  publisher.  Leyden  was  re- 
nowned for  its  printing.  The  celebrated  Elze- 
vir press,  whose  faultless  editions  are  the 
admiration  of  collectors  of  our  own  day,  was 
established  here.  It  was  easy  to  have  printing 
done  in  English  by  Dutch  printers,  if  carefully 
corrected  by  English  proof  readers.  Many  con- 
troversial tracts  and  books  had  been  written  by 
Puritans  in  Scotland  and  England,  whose  pub- 
lication was  prohibited  in  those  countries ;  and 
Brewster  was  shrewd  enough  to  see  the  demand 

O 

for  such  literature,  and  the  possibility  of  build- 
ing up  a  publishing  house  for  the  Nonconform- 
ists. Brewster's  partner  in  the  business  was  a 
wealthy  young  Englishman  named  Brewer,  who 
was  a  student  of  the  University.  But  King 
James,  not  liking  the  tone  of  the  books  pub- 
lished by  this  firm  in  their  establishment  in  the 
Choor  Steeg  (Choir  Alley),  sent  out  a  demand 
through  the  English  Ambassador  to  Holland 
that  Brewster  and  Brewer  should  be  arrested 
and  sent  to  England  as  criminals.  The  pub- 
lishers had  powerful  friends  who  fought  this 
demand.  Moreover,  there  had  been  certain 


MIGRATURUS  HABITA.  245 

rights  and  privileges  accorded  to  the  Univer- 
sity, and  its  students  could  not  be  arrested  by 
the  civil  authorities.  The  matter  became  one 
of  the  feuds  between  "Town  and  Gown,"  the 
University  protecting  Brewer,  who  might  have 
defied  the  demands  of  the  law.  He  very  mag- 
nanimously consented  of  his  own  accord  to  go 
to  England  and  answer  to  the  King  for  what 
he  had  done.  The  matter  became  almost  an 
international,  episode,  and  his  safe  conduct  was 
assured  the  Dutch  Government.  But  instead 
of  promptly  trying  Brewer,  he  was  committed 
to  prison,  where  he  was  left  to  languish  for 
fourteen  years,  being  only  discharged  by  the 
Long  Parliament  when  the  Puritan  party  came 
into  power.  All  this  time  William  Brewster 
was  a  hunted  man,  and  he  and  his  friends 
knew  that  he  stood  in  danger  of  a  similar  fate. 

For  these  and  other  reasons  the  Pilgrims  de- 
termined once  more  to  take  up  the  staff  and 
wallet,  and  this  time  to  remove  to  so  distant 
and  isolated  a  country  that  they  would  be  able 
to  preserve  their  religious  liberty. 

All  this  was  being  talked  over  when  Wrest- 
ling visited  them,  and  they  had  even  decided 
that  Virginia  should  be  the  spot  in  which  their 
colony  should  be  planted. 

William  Brewster  was  appointed  on  the  com- 


246  PATIENCE, 

mittee  to  arrange  with  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  who 
was  then  treasurer  of  the  council  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Company,  for  a  grant  of  land  and  charter 
from  the  King,  and  when  Wrestling  sailed 
away  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  it  was  with  the 
understanding  that  he  would  return  the  follow- 
ing year,  marry  Patience,  and  join  the  Pilgrims 
in  their  emigration. 


CHAPTER.  XII. 


THE  SHEPHEED  OF  THE  OCEAN. 

E'en  such  is  Time,  who  takes  in  trust 
Our  youth,  our  joys,  and  all  we  have, 
And  pays  us  naught  but  age  and  dust, 
Which  in  the  dark  and  silent  grave, 
When  we  have  wandered  all  our  ways, 
Shuts  up  the  story  of  our  days. 
And  from  which  grave  and  earth  and  dust 
The  Lord  shall  raise  me  up,  I  trust. 

— SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH 

(  Written  in  his  Bible). 

many  ways  Wrest- 
ling's hero  was  not 
at  all  heroic.  He 
was  at  all  times  very 
human,  and  some- 
times fell  far  beneath 
what  should  be  the  uni- 
versal standard  of  manli- 
ness. He  was  not  always 
morally  brave;  and  this  flaw 
in  his  character,  of  some- 
times choosing  the  easier 
way  when  stern  duty  pointed  in  another  direc- 
tion, was  always  visited  in  his  case  by  terrible 

247 


248  PATIENCE. 

retribution.  Kingsley  says  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  that  he  was  "  one  whom  God  so  loved 
that  he  caused  his  slightest  sin  to  bring  its  own 
punishment." 

His  mistakes  were  not  only  punished,  they 
were  fully  repented  of,  and,  so  far  as  possible, 
expiated,  while  his  virtues  and  admirable  quali- 
ties were  pre-eminent.  He  never  quailed  before 
physical  danger ;  he  could  "  toil  terribly,"  en- 
dure all  things ;  and  while  his  enemies  called 
him  proud,  his  friends  knew  the  wonderful 
capacity  of  affection  of  his  great,  unselfish 
heart. 

In  Aubrey's  correspondence  is  the  following 
description  of  his  personal  appearance : 

"  He  was  a  tall,  handsome,  and  bold  man. 
...  In  the  great  parlour  at  Downton  at  Mr. 
Raleigh's  is  a  good  piece,  an  original  of  Sir 
Walter,  in  a  white  satin  doublet,  all  embroid- 
ered with  rich  pearls,  and  a  mighty  rich  chain 
of  great  pearls  about  his  neck.  The  old  serv- 
ants have  told  me  that  the  [real]  pearls  were 
near  as  big  as  the  painted  ones." 

But  although  an  accomplished  courtier  (and 
the  incident  of  his  spreading  his  velvet  cloak  as 
a  carpet  for  Queen  Elizabeth  is  a  typical  one), 
he  cared  more  for  a  life  near  to  nature's  heart 
than  that  of  the  court.  A  poem,  written  while 


THE  SHEPHERD    OF  THE   OCEAN.     249 

in  retirement  at  his  loved  country-place  at 
Sherbourne,  testifies  charmingly  to  this : 

"  Go,  let  the  diving  negro  seek 
For  pearls  hid  in  some  Indian  creek. 
We  all  pearls  scorn, 
Save  those  the  dewy  morn 
Congeals  upon  some  little  spires  of  grass 
Which  careless  shepherds  beat  down  as  they  pass; 
And  gold  ne'er  here  appears 
Save  what  the  yellow  Ceres  bears." 

Both  Sir  Walter  and  Lady  Raleigh  had  a 
deep  affection  for  Sherbourne,  where  their  hap- 
piest days  were  passed.  Raleigh  desired  to 
leave  it  to  his  wife,  and  when  King  James  gave 
the  estate  to  Carr,  Raleigh  appealed  to  him 
from  prison,  "  I  beseech  you  not  to  begin  your 
first  building  on  the  ruins  of  the  innocent." 

CJ 

The  appeal  was  disregarded,  but  it  made  a 
vivid  impression  on  everyone  but  the  low- 
minded  Carr;  and  when  he  in  turn  fell  from 
favor,  arid  the  King  offered  Sherbourue  to  Vil- 
liers,  the  Duke  quoted  Raleigh's  words  in  his 
reply  to  James,  "  Do  not  build  my  fortune  on 
another  man's  ruins,"  and  the  King  gave  Buck- 
ingham eleven  manors  as  an  equivalent. 

Raleigh  had  thrown  over  every  other  hope 
and  staked  his  last  venture  on  the  voyage  to 
Guiana.  His  wife  put  in  pawn  a  little  property 


250  PATIENCE. 

which  she  had  received  as  her  dowry.  Their 
son  Walter,  a  young  man  of  great  promise,  who 
had  been  educated  at  Oxford,  had  Ben  Jonson 
for  his  tutor,  and  was  betrothed  to  an  heiress 
of  immense  estates,  joined  his  father  in  this 
enterprise.  Wrestling  had  seen  him  frequently 
at  the  Tower,  and  they  became  devoted  com- 
rades. He  found  himself  associated  also  with 
other  men  bearing  the  most  honorable  of 
English  names.  Our  story  touches  that  of 
Raleigh  only  after  his  fall  from  fortune's  favor, 
and  has  given  no  mention  of  the  brilliant  suc- 
cesses of  his  life,  of  his  naval  and  military 
exploits  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
These  are  a  part  of  history ;  and  it  is  the 
author's  hope  that  her  readers  may  be  inter- 
ested to  supplement  these  brief  allusions  by 
more  serious  reading.  The  dauntless  career  of 
the  hero  of  Cadiz  and  Fayal  was  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  Englishmen,  and  some  of  the  old 
sailors  who  had  gained  victories  under  him 
were  not  too  aged  to  rally  around  him  again. 
The  greater  part  of  his  command,  however,  were 
of  a  younger  generation,  who  had  heard  of 
Raleigh  but-  had  never  served  Avith  him. 
Among  these  were  "  twenty  or  thirty  very 
adventurous  gentlemen  of  singular  courage," 
though  the  greater  number  are  described  "  as 


THE  SHEPHERD    OF  THE  OCEAN.     251 

weak  rnen  as  ever  followed  valiant  leaders." 
There  were  many  soldiers  of  fortune  and  wild 
youths  whose,  parents  were  glad  to  ship  them 
on  a  long  voyage  to  keep  them  out  of  mischief 
at  home.  Of  these  there  were  not  wanting  a 
large  number  who  were  excellent  seamen — for 
piracy  was  a  popular  employment,  one  might 
almost  say  amusement,  among  the  lordlings  who 
owned  castles  along  the  English  coast. 

"  As  the  modern  gentleman  keeps  his  yacht," 
says  Froude,  "so  the  Elizabethan  knights 
(men  belonging  to  the  best  families  in  England) 
kept  their  ambiguous  cruisers  and  levied  war 
on  their  own  account.  A  fast  Flemish  trader 
has  sailed  from  Antwerp  to  Cadiz,  something 
happens  to  her  on  the  way  and  she  never 
reaches  her  destination.  At  midnight  carts 
and  horses  run  down  to  the  sea  over  the  sands 
of  Lowestoft ;  the  black  hull  and  spars  of  a 
vessel  are  seen  outside  the  breakers,  dimly  rid- 
ing in  the  gloom,  and  a  boat  shoots  through  the 
surf  loaded  to  the  gunwale.  Bales  are  shot 
swiftly  into  the  carts;  the  horses  drag  back 
their  loads,  which  before  daybreak  are  safe  in 
the  cellars  of  some  quiet  manor-house,  and  the 
mysterious  vessel  glides  away  to  look  ,for  a 
fresh  victim."  The  Cobhams  of  Cowling  Castle, 
brothers-in-law  of  Cecil,  were  notorious  pirates, 


252  PATIENCE. 

and  the  elder  Lord  Rich  had  bought  his  title 
with  the  fruits  of  piratical  ventures. 

As  the  event  proved,  it  made  very  little 
difference  to  the  majority  of  Raleigh's  crew 
whether  they  were  engaged  upon  an  expedition 
of  honorable  discovery  or  of  piracy.  The 
Spanish  ambassador  at  the  court  of  King 
James,  Don  Diego  Sarmiento  de  Acuna,  Count 
of  Gondomar,  had  good  reason  to  look  upon  the 
expedition  with  suspicion  and  to  inquire  King 
James'  intentions  in  sending  it  out ;  but  it  was 
certainly  a  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of 
Raleigh's  sovereign  that  he  should  have  given 
Count  Gondomar  a  copy  of  Raleigh's  chart  of 
his  projected  cruise,  which  was  sent  to  Madrid 
before  Raleigh's  fleet  had  left  Plymouth. 

James  was  pursuing  at  this  time  a  double 
policy.  Fascinated  by  the  hope  of  having  his 
son  Charles  many  the  Infanta,  he  was  attempt- 
ing to  placate  Philip  by  pretending  to  deal 
openly  with  him,  and  by  giving  Raleigh  orders 
not  to  molest  Spaniards,  though  he  must  have 
known  that  such  an  expedition  could  not  be 
carried  out  without  fighting,  for  which  he  was 
now  taking  care  to  shirk  the  responsibility. 
There  were  two  parties  in  the  councils  of 
England :  one,  headed  by  Villiers  and  Somer- 
set, in  favor  of  the  Spanish  marriage;  another, 


THE  SHEPHERD    OF  THE   OCEAN.     253 

of  which  Secretary  Win  wood  was  leader,  which 
insisted  on  regarding  Spain  as  the  enemy  of 
England — and  the  King  wavered  between  them, 
faithful  to  neither.  When  Raleigh  first  visited 
Guiana  in  1595  it  had  not  been  claimed  by 
Spain,  but  since  that  time  a  small  Spanish 
colony  had  been  planted  on  the  Orinoco,  and 
word  was  immediately  sent  to  it  from  Spain  of 
the  projected  expedition.  France  also  regarded 
the  operations  with  interest.  The  French 
ambassador  Desrnarets  wrote  to  Richelieu 
informing  him  of  the  expedition  ;  and  the  astute 
minister,  who  appreciated  the  value  of  such  a 
man,  replied  with  instructions  that  Raleigh 
(who  is  designated  in  this  correspondence  as 
"  Ouastre  Rali ")  was  if  possible  to  be  won 
from  the  service  of  England  to  that  of  France, 
and  sent  him  a  commission  in  the  French 
navy.  So  widespread  was  the  interest  taken 
in  this  enterprise  that  even  the  Grand  Mogul 
was  informed  of  it  through  the  English  ambas- 
sador at  his  court,  who  had  heard  of  it  from  his 
friend  Sir  George  Carew. 

Raleigh  believed  thoroughly  in  the  existence 
of  the  gold-mine  of  which  he  had  heard  dur- 
ing his  first  voyage  to  Guiana;  moreover  he 
had  sent  out  an  expedition  under  Captain 
Lawrence  Keymis  in  1596  to  discover  it,  and 


254  PATIENCE. 

though  Keymis  had  failed  to  reach  the  mine  he 
had  been  informed  of  itstexact  situation  and  had 
brought  back  specimens  of  the  ore.  The  Indian 
who  had  found  his  way  to  London,  and  who 
had  supported  himself  for  some  time  by  giving 
exhibitions  in  the  Bear  Garden,  also  knew  of 
the  situation  of  the  mine,  and  was  devoted  to 
E-aleigh ;  but  despairing  of  his  release  he  had 
sailed  to  America  with  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges. 
He  had,  however,  promised  Sir  Walter  to  keep 
a  lookout  and  a  warm  welcome  for  him  among 
his  people,  and  to  guide  him  on  his  arrival  to 
El  Dorado. 

The  voyage  was  disastrous  from  the  first. 
Storms  baffled  them  at  their  setting  out.  There 
were  desertions  at  the  Canaries,  where  they 
watered.  Disease  and  death  fell  upon  them 
long  before  they  approached  their  destination. 

On  the  24th  of  September  fifty  men  in  the 
flagship  alone  were  sick  with  fever.  In  Octo- 
ber they  encountered  a  hurricane,  and  one  ship 
of  the  eleven  was  lost. 

Then  came  a  calm,  and  while  the  ships  drifted 
with  idle  sails  Raleigh  himself  succumbed  to 
the  fever.  For  weeks  Wrestling  nursed  him 
devotedly,  while  one  by  one  old  comrades  and 
stanch  friends  were  buried  under  the  glassy 
sea,  where  the  waiting  sharks  grew  tame  as 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  OCEAN.  255 

they  sported  about  the  doomed  ships,  and  the 
brazen  heavens  glared  unpityingiy. 

At  length,  in  November,  light  breezes  sprang 
up,  and  they  sighted  Cayenne.  Here  they  found 
the  faithful  Harry  waiting  for  them  with  a  great 
store  of  fresh  provisions,  and  pineapples,  ba- 
nanas, and  guavas — most  comforting  to  the 
scurvy-smitten  men. 

The  deputation  of  Indians  swarmed  around 
the  Destiny  in  their  light  canoes,  and,  coming 
on  board,  knelt  to  Raleigh  as  he  lay  on  deck  in 
his  hammock,  and  offered  him  the  sovereignty 
of  the  Indies.  Their  devotion  heartened  him, 
and  possibly  saved,  his  life.  He  wrote  to  his 
wife  :  "  To  say  that  I  may  yet  be  King  of  the 
Indians  here  were  a  vanity ;  but  my  name  hath 
lived  among  them."  This  was  putting  it  very 
tamely,  for  since  his  first  visit,  when  he  had 
treated  the  natives  honorably,  they  had  inquired 
of  every  vessel  that  touched  at  their  ports  for 
Raleigh,  asking  eagerly  when  he  was  coming 
to  them  again.  Encouraged  by  this  reception, 
— although  Harry  brought  the  news  that  the 
Spaniards  had  made  a  new  settlement  on  the 
Orinoco  called  San  Thome, — Raleigh  pressed  on 
to  the  mouth  of  the  river.  His  exertions  on 
the  way  brought  on  a  relapse,  and  when  the 
fleet  reached  the  Orinoco  he  was  too  ill  to  lead 


L>56  PATIENCE. 

the  expedition.  He  organized  it,  however,  in 
the  best  possible  manner,  giving  the  general 
leadership  to  Captain  Keymis,  and  making  his 
son  Walter  and  his  nephew  George  Raleigh 
commanders  of  the  four  hundred  soldiers.  The 
expedition  ascended  the  river  in  five  small  ves- 
sels, while  Raleigh  waited  with  the  larger  ships 
at  the  Triangle  Islands.  He  committed  his  in- 
structions to  writing,  and  gave  them  to  Keymis, 
having  provided  therein  for  every  exigency 
which  he  could  foresee. 

"  Keep  together,"  he  counseled  them,  "  to  the 
last  possible  moment.  If  you  find  that  you 
cannot  pass  toward  the  mine  without  peril,  be 
careful  how  you  land,  for  I  would  not,  for  all 
the  world,  receive  a  blow  from  the  Spaniards  to 
the  dishonor  of  our  nation.  After  landing,  let 
the  soldiers  camp  between  the  town  and  the 
mine  (while  the  engineers  explore  the  latter 
and  secure  the  gold).  If  the  Spaniards  attack, 
you,  George  Raleigh,  are  to  repel  them,  and 
drive  them  as  far  as  you  can.  If  you,  Keymis, 
find  the  mine  not  so  rich  as  we  have  hoped,  still 
bring  away  a  basket  or  two  of  the  ore,  to  sat- 
isfy his  Majesty  that  my  design  was  not  imagi- 
nary, but  true."  This  was  the  burden  of  his 
desire,  for  his  enemies  at  home  had  insisted  and 
would  insist  that  the  mine  had  never  existed. 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  OCEAN.  257 

For  twenty-three  days  the  boats  ascended  the 
Orinoco,  voyaging  in  the  stillness  of  the  beau- 
tiful tropical  forests;  the  Indians  bringing 
them  supplies  of  game  and  fruit,  and  paddling 
by  their  side,  standing  upright  in  their  canoes 
and  spearing  the  great  fish.  Parrakeets  and 
macaws  made  flashes  of  brilliant  color  among 
the  tree  ferns ;  monkeys  chattered  in  the  palms ; 
women  brought  the  huge  blossoms  of  the  Victoria 
regia  and  the  night-blooming  cereus.  It  was 
all  a  holiday  excursion  until  they  had  almost 
reached  the  vicinity  of  the  mine,  when  a  camp 
of  Spanish  soldiers,  evidently  posted  as  videttes 
on  the  island  of  San  Raphael  fired  upon  them 
and  fled  into  the  interior.  On  New  Year's  Day 
they  landed  and  began  their  march  to  the  mine, 
but  were  met  by  the  entire  Spanish  force  from 
San  Thome,  which  had  come  out  to  attack  them. 
The  soldiers  routed  them  and  drove  them  back 
into  their  fortified  town,  which  young  Walter 
Raleigh,  in  a  spirited  address,  urged  his  fol- 
lowers to  take,  leading  the  attack  with  the 
words,  "  Come  on,  ray  men  ;  this  is  the  only  mine 
you  will  ever  find  ! " 

The  Englishmen  swarmed  over  the  stockade, 
and  the  Spaniards  took  refuge  in  the  monas- 
tery, turning  the  adobe  walls  of  the  mission 
into  a  blockhouse. 


258  PATIENCE. 

In  their  onset  their  young  leader  received  his 
death-wound,  falling  into  Wrestling's  arms  with 
the  cry :  "  Go  on  !  May  the  Lord  prosper  you 
and  have  mercy  on  me ! " 

The  monastery  was  speedily  taken,  but  Wrest- 
ling, seeing  a  soldier  about  to  strike  down  the 
priest,  who  was  kneeling  in  front  of  a  little 
shrine,  rushed  forward  and  dealt  the  assailant 
a  blow  with  the  flat  of  his  sword.  The  priest 
lifted  his  hand  and  blessed  them  both,  and  in 
that  act  Wrestling  recognized  his  old  friend 
Father  Greenway.  Leading  him  to  George 
Raleigh,  he  secured  his  protection,  and  together 
they  carried  the  body  of  young  Walter 
within  the  church,  where  he  was  buried  with 
military  honors. 

After  the  victory  they  learned  that  the  out- 
post had  been  lately  garrisoned  by  soldiers  sent 
from  Madrid,  and  in  the  Governor's  office  found 
dispatches  advising  him  of  the  coming  of  Sir 
Walter's  expedition.  This  discovery  so  inflamed 
the  victors  that  they  burned  the  town,  leaving 
only  the  church,  the  tomb  of  their  leader,  stand- 
ing amid  the  smoking  ruins.  Father  Greenway 
stood  within  its  dark  archway,  his  hand  still 
raised  in  blessing  as  they  inarched  away. 

Keymis  led  the  men  on  toward  the  mine  ; 
but  they  were  demoralized  by  the  orgies  with 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  OCEAN.  259 

which  they  had  celebrated  their  victory.  The 
hot  Spanish  wines  which  they  had  found  had 
done  them  more  harm  than  the  bullets  of  their 
enemies.  Keymis  lost  control  of  his  men,  who 
refused  to  march  further  into  the  wilderness, 
not  believing  in  the  existence  of  the  mine. 
Returning,  they  were  harassed  by  bands  of 
Indians,  who  had  been  roused  by  the  fugitive 
Spaniards  and  who  now  hung  upon  their  rear. 
In  making  a  stand  against  them  Wrestling  was 
captured,  and  the  baffled  expedition  came  back 
to  Raleigh,  who  was  heartbroken  by  the  news 
of  the  death  of  his  son,  and  in  despair  over  the 
failure  to  reach  the  mine.  His  reproaches  so 
goaded  Keymis  that  he  committed  suicide. 
Raleigh  attempted  to  lead  a  band  to  the  rescue  of 
Wrestling,  but  was  carried  back  fainting  to  his 
ship.  His  men  now  clamored  to  be  allowed  to 
lie  in  wait  for  the  Spanish  plate  fleet,  which 
would  be  returning  about  this  time  with  silver 
from  Mexico,  and  some  of  his  best  equipped 
ships  deserted  for  this  purpose — while  others 
sought  the  fisheries  of  Newfoundland.  At 
length,  after  many  vicissitudes,  deserted  by  all 
his  ships,  empty-handed  and  utterly  broken  in 
mind  and  health,  he  arrived  at  Plymouth  in  the 
Destiny.  His  kinsman,  the  perfidious  Stukely, 
was  sent  by  King  James  to  arrest  him  and 


260  PATIENCE. 

bring  him  to  London.  Lady  Raleigh  met  him 
also  on  his  arrival  in  an  agony  of  apprehension, 
for  she  knew  to  what  danger  he  was  returning. 
Richelieu  had  watched  the  ill-fortune  of  the 
expedition,  but  had  not  lost  faith  in  the  ability 
of  the  leader,  and  a  French  ship  was  waiting  in 
the  offing  to  take  him  to  France.  Lady  Raleigh, 
thinking  only  of  the  safety  of  the  man  who  was 
all  the  world  to  her,  begged  him  to  flee.  The 
traitor  Stukely,  pretending  to  be  his  friend, 
allowed  the  mission  of  the  French  ship  to  be 
conveyed  to  him  and  urged  Raleigh  to  accept 
Richelieu's  overtures.  Raleigh  had  his  honor 
and  patriotism  to  think  of,  and  should  have 
shown  the  same  magnificent  dauntlessness  to 
which  he  rose  later ;  but  it  was  his  moment  of 
weakness,  and  he  vacillated.  He  feigned  ill- 
ness in  order  to  delay  his  journey  to  London. 
A  French  physician  was  given  him  to  whom  he 
intrusted  a  message  to  the  captain  of  the  French 
ship.  But  every  man  about  him  was  a  spy  ;  and 
though  he  finally  refused  to  go  to  France, 
Stukely  testified  that  Raleigh  was  simply  frus- 
trated in  his  endeavor  to  do  so.  He  was  exam- 
ined before  a  special  commission,  and  was  charged 
with  having  never  had  any  intention  of  finding 
the  mine.  Bacon,  who  had  been  his  friend, 
was  now  against  him,  and  drew  up  the  report  of 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  OCEAN.  261 

the  commission.  King  James  gained  Philip's 
friendship  by  offering  to  send  Raleigh  to  be 
punished  for  piracy  in  Spain ;  but  Philip  declin- 
ing to  avail  himself  of  this  courtesy,  he  was 
condemned  to  die  on  the  old  sentence  which  still 
hung  over  him.  This  was  for  complicity  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Cobham  plot.  Charles  Kingsley 
voices  the  opinion  of  posterity  when  he  writes  of 
that  conspiracy:  "Having  read  nearly  all  that 
has  been  written  on  the  subject,  we  find  but  one 
thing  comes  brightly  out  of  the  confusion,  and 
that  is  Raleigh's  innocence.  He  and  all  Eng- 
land, and  the  very  man  that  condemned  him, 
knew  that  he  was  innocent.  Cecil  was  the  man- 
ager of  the  whole  plot  against  him,  and  as  accom- 
plished a  villain  as  one  meets  with  in  history." 
Raleigh's  high  courage  came  back  to  him  as 
soon  as  it  was  certain  that  he  must  die.  The 
night  before  his  execution  he  wrote  some  verses 
on  the  pilgrimage  before  him : 

"From  hence  to  heaven's  bribeless  hall 
Where  no  corrupted  voices  brawl, 
No  conscience  molten  into  gold, 
No  forg'd  accuser  bought  or  sold, 
No  cause  deferred,  no  vain  spent  journey, 
For  there  Christ  is  the  King's  attorney, 
Who  pleads  for  all  without  degrees, 
And  he  hath  angels,*  but  no  fees." 

*  The  pun  here  is  understood  when  we  remember  that  the  angel 
is  an  ancient  English  coin  worth  about  ten  shillings 


262  PATIENCE. 

"As  he  stood  on  the  scaffold,"  says  Mr. 
Gosse, "  in  the  cold  morning  air,  he  foiled  James 
and  Philip  at  one  thrust  and  conquered  the 
esteem  of  all  posterity."  He  touched  the  edge 
of  the  ax,  remarking,  "  It  is  a  sharp  medicine 
to  cure  me  of  all  my  diseases." 

When  the  headsman  insisted  that  he  should 
lay  his  head  toward  the  east,  he  replied,  "  What 
matter  how  the  head  lie  so  the  heart  be  right  ? " 

We  may  judge  of  that  great  heart  from  his 
farewell  letter  to  his  wife : 

"  My  love  I  send  you  that  you  may  keep 
it  when  I  am  dead,  my  counsel  that  you  may 
remember  it  when  I  am  no  more.  I  would 
not  present  you  with  sorrows,  dear  Bess, 
let  them  go  into  the  grave  with  me  and  be 
buried  in  the  dust ;  and  seeing  that  it  is  not  the 
will  of  God  that  ever  I  shall  see  you  more  in 
this  life,  bear  it  patiently  with  a  heart  like 
thyself. 

"  First  I  send  you  all  thanks  which  my  heart 
can  conceive  or  my  words  express  for  your 
many  travails  and  care  of  me  which,  though 
they  did  not  take  effect  as  you  wished,  yet  my 
debt  to  you  is  none  the  less. 

"  Most  sorry  I  am,  God  knows,  that  being  sur- 
prised with  death  I  can  leave  you  in  no  better 


THE  SHEPHERD    OF  THE   OCEAN.     263 

estate.  But  if  you  can  live  free  from  want  the 
rest  is  vanity.  Love  God  and  repose  yourself 
upon  him,  and  then  you  shall  find  true  riches 
and  endless  comfort.  Remember  your  poor 
child,*  for  his  father's  sake  who  chose  you  and 
loved  you  in  his  happiest  time.  .  .  Your  son 
is  the  son  of  a  true  man  who  despiseth  death  in 
all  his  ugly  forms.  Beg  my  dead  body,  which 
living  was  denied  thee,  and  lay  it  in  Sherbourne 
or  in  Exeter  by  my  father  and  mother. 

"  The  everlasting,  powerful,  infinite,  and  om- 
nipotent God,  who  is  goodness  itself,  keep  thee 
and  thine,  teach  me  to  forgive  my  accusers,  send 
ns  to  meet  in  his  glorious  kingdom,  and  hold 
you  both  in  his  arms. 

"  Written  with  the  dying  hand  of  sometime 
thy  husband. 

"  Yours  that  was,  but  now  not  even  my  own. 
"  WALTER  RALEIGH." 

*  Their  younger  son,  Carew  Raleigh. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


CHILDREN    OF   THE    "  MAYFLOWER." 

Soon  were  heard  on  board  the  shouts  and  songs  of  the  sailors, 
Glad  to  be  gone  from  a  land  of  sand  and  sickness  and  sorrow, 
Short  allowance  of  victual,  and  plenty  of  nothing  but  Gospel! 
Lost  in  the  sound  of  the  oars  was  the  last  farewell  of  the 

Pilgrims. 
O  strong  hearts  and  true!  not  one  went  back  in  the  May  Flower! 

Lo!  as  they  turned  to  depart,  they  saw  the  form  of  an  Indian, 
Watching  them  from  the  hill;  but  while  they  spake  with  each 

other, 
Pointing  with  outstretched  hands,  and  saying  "  Look  !  "  he  had 

vanished. 

— LONGFELLOW. 

ALEIGH    was 

executed  on 
the  29th  of 
October, 
1618.  Among 
those  who 
stood  horror- 
stricken  un- 
der the  shad- 
ow of  his  scaffold,  and  listened  to  his  last 
magnificent  speech,  so  "masterly  in  its  per- 
suasive eloquence,"  were  William  Brewster  and 

264 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  265 

his  son  Love.  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  bad  written 
that  the  proposition  which  the  Pilgrims  had 
made  to  the  Virginia  Company  was  satisfactory 
to  the  Council,  and  the  Brewsters  had  come  to 
London,  sent  by  the  Pilgrims  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  their  emigration,  and  personally 
anxious  to  gain  any  news  of  the  unfortunate 
Wrestling.  They  were  not  able  to  obtain  an 
interview  with  Raleigh,  but  across  the  sea  of 
faces  they  had  recognized  the  set,  pale  counte- 
nance of  Thomas  Dudley,  and  had  joined  him 
as  the  crowd  dispersed.  He  conducted  them 
to  the  town-house  of  'his  patron,  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln,  where  they  were  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  Lady  Elizabeth  Clinton,  Countess  of 
Lincoln,  and  by  the  Earl's  sister,  Lady  Ara- 
bella Johnson.  Both  of  these  noble  women 
were  Puritans,  and  greatly  interested  at  this 
time  in  the  emigration  to  New  England.  And 
William  Brewster  was  happy  to  find  that  they 
still  had  such  faithful  friends  in  England.  But 
Love  found  his  attention  wandering  from  the 
conversation,  and  his  eyes  seeking  the  door 
with  yearning  hope  each  time  it  opened,  for 
Thomas  Dudley  had  told  him  that  Patience 
was  with  Lady  Raleigh,  but  that  she  would  re- 
turn soon.  At  length  the  Countess  of  Lincoln, 
who  seemed  to  divine  his  thoughts,  informed 


266  PATIENCE. 

Love  that  there  was  a  vesper  choral  service  at 
Westminster  Abbey,  which  Patience  was  in  the 
habit  of  attending,  and  he  might  find  her  there. 
He  slipped  away  quickly,  and  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life  entered  an  established  church.  He 
had  stalked  in  with  his  peaked  hat  on,  but  the 
voices  of  the  choristers  were  rising  pure  and 
clear  on  the  great  billowing  waves  of  the  organ, 
and  there  before  him,  with  all  the  glory  of  the 
shattered  rainbow  light  falling  upon  her  from 
one  of  the  great  stained-glass  windows,  Patience 
was  kneeling.  A  great  awe  fell  upon  him. 
He  removed  his  hat  reverently,  and,  walking 
up  the  aisle,  knelt  at  her  side. 

An  elegantly  dressed  courtier,  who  had  been 
staring  at  Patience,  looked  at  him  keenly,  and 
whispered  to  one  of  the  attendants  on  the 
Bishop  of  London,  who  slipped  away.  When 
the  service  was  over,  and  Love  and  Patience 
walked  out  together,  the  man  followed  them 
at  a  distance,  and  Love  saw  him  watching 
them  as  they  entered  the  house  of  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln.  He  had  cause  to  reflect  on  the  cir- 
cumstance afterward,  though  it  made  no  im- 
pression upon  him  at  the  time,  for  he  had  eyes 
and  ears  for  no  one  but  the  sweet  girl  beside 
him.  She  had  greeted  him  with  a  pathetic 
appeal  in  her  beautiful  eyes,  which  went 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER"  267 

straight  to  his  heart,  and  as  he  knelt  beside  her 
in  the  great  abbey  he  had  promised  God  to 
devote  his  Jife  to  changing  that  look  to  one  of 
happiness. 

To  his  father  and  to  him  she  brought  the 
only  news  which  they  were  to  obtain  from 
Wrestling,  for  Sir  "Walter  had  left  a  message 
with  his  wife  for  her.  "  Tell  her,"  he  had  said, 
"to  be  in  no  despair  concerning  the  young 
man  Wrestling  Brewster,  for  I  have  known 
men  to  be  in  worse  straits  than  he,  and  to  win 
safely  out  of  them  at  last.  He  is  not  a  man  to 
be  easily  overpowered  by  evil  fortune.  He  has 
two  friends  in  Guiana — Father  Greenway,  who 
will  not  suffer  his  life  to  be  taken,  and  the  In- 
dian Harry,  who  has  promised  to  effect  his 
escape.  Harry  saw  him  after  he  was  taken 
prisoner  and  brought  me  this  message — that  he 
would  endeavor  to  make  his  way  to  Virginia 
and  to  meet  his  betrothed  there." 

"  Then,  friend  Dudley,"  said  William  Brew- 
ster, "  thou  must  needs  commit  this  maid  to  my 
care  and  to  that  of  my  good  wife,  that  we  may 
take  her  with  us,  for  from  this  moment  she  is 
as  sacredly  our  daughter  as  though  the  words 
were  already  spoken  which  will  some  day  make 
her  our  Wrestling's  wife." 

"  Wilt  thou  have  it  so  ? "  asked  Dudley  ;  and 


268  PATIENCE. 

Patience  replied,  "  I  beseech  thee,  dear  father, 
let  me  go  to  my  betrothed." 

With  that  word  the  faint  spark  of  hope 
which  until  now  had  flickered  in  Love's  heart 
died  out  forever,  for  he  knew  now  to  a  cer- 
tainty that  Patience  loved  his  brother,  and 
would  love  him  forever,  whatever  might  hap- 
pen. None  the  less,  he  repeated  the  vow  he 
had  made  in  the  abbey,  and  begged  her  to 
come  with  them,  promising  to  devote  his  life 
to  seeking  for  Wrestling. 

"Amen!"  said  Thomas  Dudley.  "When 
our  friends  are  ready  to  sail  I  will  myself  take 
Patience  on  board  their  ship  and  deliver  her 
into  their  watch-care." 

But  Brewster  could  not  effect  the  removal  as 
quickly  as  he  had  hoped.  Sir  Edwin  Sandys 
had  petitioned  the  King  for  a  grant  for  the 
Pilgrims,  but  at  this  time  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany was  torn  by  two  opposing  factions,  one 
headed  by  Sir  Edwin,  while  the  opposition  was 
led  by  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  (though  he 
had  nothing  against  the  Puritans,  and  indeed 
often  favored  them)  opposed  on  principle 
everything  proposed  by  Sandys.  King  James 
also  had  taken  personal  umbrage  at  Sir  Edwin's 
attitude  in  Parliament,  and  when  he  heard  that 
he  was  a  candidate  for  the  treasurership  of  the 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  269 

Virginia  Company,  sent  the  Council  the  signifi- 
cant advice :  "  Choose  the  devil  if  you  will,  but 
not  Sir  Edwin  Sandys."  The  Council  elected 
Sir  Edwin  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of 
the  King  and  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  and 
their  unfriendliness  was  strengthened  by  their 
defeat.  The  petition  of  the  Pilgrims,  which  had 
been  warmly  pushed  by  Sandys,  and  to  which 
the  King  had  at  first  given  his  verbal  approval, 
was  now  referred  by  him  to  the  Bishop  of 
London,  who  refused  to  allow  liberty  of  wor- 
ship. Shortly  after  the  crown  took  away  the 
charter  of  the  Virginia  Company  and  assumed 
its  privileges,  while  Sir  Edwin  was  imprisoned 
in  the  tower  on  charges,  made  by  the  Earl  of 
Warwick,  of  harboring  designs  of  establishing 
a  Puritan  and  republican  state  in  America. 

Finding,  as  it  is  quaintly  expressed  by  their 
chronicler,  "  that  the  Virginia  Counsell  was 
now  so  disturbed  with  factions  amongst  itself 
as  no  bussiness  could  goe  forward,"  William 
Brewster  returned  to  Holland,  hoping  through 
the  Dutch  Trading  Company  to  arrange  their 
emigration  to  Manhattan.  His  resolution  to 
give  up  further  efforts  for  that  time  in  England 
had  been  taken  none  too  soon.  He  was  still 
under  ban  for  the  publication  of  prohibited 
books,  and  he  had  committed  the  indiscretion  of 


270  PATIENCE. 

visiting  his  former  partner  Brewer  in  the  Fleet 
Street  Prison.  Moreover,  Sir  Dudley  Carleton, 
English  ambassador  at  The  Hague,  had  written 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham  that  he  had  gone  to 
England.  It  was  the  Duke  who  had  noticed 
Wrestling  in  the  Abbey,  and  had  reported  the 
fact  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  had  jurisdic- 
tion in  cases  on  non-conformity,  and  had  placed 
his  pursuivants  upon  Love's  track.  The  elder 
Brewster  escaped  his  clutches,  but  Love 
lingered  a  little  longer  in  London,  to  see,  as  he 
told  himself,  if  anything  further  could  be  done 
for  the  Pilgrims,  but  in  reality  to  look  at 
Patience  each  evening  at  vespers.  It  was  a 
strange  try  sting  place  for  two  Puritans,  but 
there  was  something  in  the  noble  building 
which  appealed  to  Patience.  Its  vastness 
brooded  over  her  like  the  sense  of  God's  pro- 
tecting power.  She  did  not  repeat  the  liturgy, 
but  in  her  heart  prayed  her  own  prayers,  and 
Love,  who  knelt  at  a  distance,  prayed  only  for 
strength  to  be  faithful  to  his  vow. 

But  one  day  George  Sandys  told  him  that  he 
must  depart,  or  he  would  find  himself  in  the 
Bishop's  prison  at  Lambeth ;  for  he  had  seen  a 
letter  written  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  * 
which  showed  that  he  was  a  hunted  man. 

*  This  letter  from  Secretary  Naunton  to  the  Duke  of  Bucking. 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  271 

Returned  to  Holland,  he  found  that  the  Pil- 
grims had  been  disappointed  in  their  hopes 
with  the  Dutch ;  but  just  as  they  were  in  the 
deepest  despair  their  opportunity  carne  to  them 
from  an  unexpected  quarter. 

Bradford  tells  us  .how  "  One  Mr.  Thomas 
Weston,  a  merchant  of  London,  came  to  Leyden 
and  persuaded  them  to  goe  on,  as  he  and  such 
merchants  as  were  his  friends  would  sett  them 
forth ;  and  they  should  make  ready  and  neither 
feare  want  of  shipping  nor  money,  for  what 
they  wanted  should  be  provided."  Mr.  Weston 
was  not  at  all  the  disinterested  benefactor  which 
he  seemed  to  the  Pilgrims.  He  was  simply  the 
representative  of  some  shrewd  business  men 
who  were  looking  for  a  good  investment  of 
their  money,  and  who  now  formed  themselves 
into  a  stock  company,  advancing  to  the  colonists 
the  capital  necessary  to  plant  a  sound  and 
paying  enterprise,  which  would  bring  rich 
dividends  to  the  stockholders.  An  agreement 
was  drawn  up  whereby,  with  other  conditions, 
the  "  adventurers  and  planters  "  agreed  "  to 
continue  their  joynt  stock  &  partnership  to- 

ham  is  still  in  existence  in  the  state  archives.  It  is  dated  August, 
1619,  and  states :  "  Brewster  hath  been  frighted  back  into  the 
Low  Countries  by  the  Bishop's  pursuivants.  Brewster's  son  comes 
to  church "  (he  could  not,  therefore,  be  arraigned  for  non-con- 
formity). 


272  PATIENCE. 

getlierye  space  of  7  yeares,  during  which  time 
all  profits  gott  by  trucking,  working,  fishing,  or 
other  means  remaine  in  ye  comone  stock  untill 
ye  division.  That  at  ye  end  of  ye  7  years  ye 
capitall  &  profits ;  viz  the  houses,  lands,  goods 
and  chatles,  be  equally  divided  betwixte  ye 
adventurers  and  planters." 

Thomas  Dudley  had  interested  Theophilus 
Clinton,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  in  the  Pilgrims,  and 
about  the  same  time  he  secured  a  patent  for 
them  in  the  name  of  a  certain  John  Wincob, 
who  intended  to  emigrate  with  them.  So  all 
difficulties  bring  smoothed  away,  the  Pilgrims 
purchased  a  small  vessel,  misnamed  the 
Speedwell,  which  was  to  transport  them  from 
Delfshaven  to  Southampton,  where  the  May- 
flower, which  the  merchant  stockholders  had 
hired,  was  waiting  to  take  them  across  the 
Atlantic.  Only  a  part  of  the  Leyden  congrega- 
tion had  decided  to  emigrate.  Their  pastor, 
John  Robinson,  was  to  remain,  and  William 
Brewster  would  take  upon  himself  the  duty  of 
minister  to  those  who  went.  The  parting 
between  those  old  neighbors  and  tried  com- 
panions was  most  tender.  Their  Dutch  friends 
joined  in  the  general  expression  of  regret,  and 
even  their  old  neighbors  in  Amsterdam  came  to 
see  them  off,  and  a  great  deputation  accompanied 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  273 

the  voyagers  to  Delfshaven — "where  falling 
down  on  their  knees  with  watrie  cheeks  they 
commended  them  to  the  Lord  and  his  blessing." 
Edward  Winslow's  report  of  Robinson's  parting 
sermon  shows  it  strangely  liberal  and  prophetic. 
" '  We  are  now,' "  he  said, " l  to  part  asunder  and 
the  Lord  knoweth  whether  ever  I  shall  see  your 
faces  again.  I  charge  you  before  God  and  his 
blessed  angels  to  follow  me  no  further  than  I 
have  followed  Christ.  And  if  God  should 
reveal  anything  to  you  by  another  instrument, 
be  as  ready  to  receive  it  as  ever  you  were  to 
receive  truth  by  my  ministry.  For  I  am  con- 
fident that  the  Lord  hath  more  truth  and  light 
ready  to  break  forth  out  of  His  Holy  Word. 
Shake  off  the  name  of  "  Brownist "  as  being  a 
nickname  to  make  your  religion  odious.  I  shall 
be  glad  if  some  godly  ministers  go  over  with  you, 
for  there  will  be  no  difference  between  other 
uncomformable  ministers  and  you  when  you 
come  to  the  practice  of  religion  outside  the 
kingdom.  By  all  means  close  with  the  godly 
party  of  England,  and  rather  study  unity  than 
division — namely,  how  near  you  may  possibly 
without  sin  join  with  them.'  Many  other 
things,"  said  Edward  Winslow, "  he  commended 
to  us,  but  these  I  thought  good  to  relate,  that 
all  might  see  what  this  church  was  and  is ;  and 


274  PATIENCE. 

how  far  they  are  from  separation  from  the 
churches  of  Christ,  especially  those  that  are 
reformed."  At  Southampton  they  found  the 
Mayflower  in  waiting  and  re-embarked.  Here, 
too,  Thomas  Dudley  redeemed  his  promise  and 
committed  Patience  into  the  care  of  the 
Brewsters,  promising  to  join  them  in  the  new 
country  as  soon  as  might  be,  for  the  Countess  of 
Lincoln  had  resolved  to  arrange  for  the  emi- 
gration of  a  large  body  of  English  Puritans. 

The  voyage  of  the  Mayflower  is  a  matter  of 
history.  Every  boy  and  girl  knows  how  the 
Speedwell  proved  un seaworthy  and  returned ; 
how  even  the  larger  ship  was  leaky,  and,  struck 
halfway  over  by  equinoctial  gales,  kept  all 
hands  at  the  pumps.  A  humorous  writer  has 
said  with  whimsical  exaggeration  tfyat  it  is  esti- 
mated that  the  Pilgrims  pumped  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  through  the  Mayflower  sixteen  times; 
and  if  it  had  been  necessary  to  do  this,  in  order 
to  reach  their  promised  land,  no  doubt  their 
energy  and  perseverance  would  have  been 
equal  to  it.  For  three  months  they  struggled 
on.  Death  visited  them,  a  child  was  born  and 
christened  Oceanus.  Storms,  disease,  privation, 
the  possibility  that  they  were  being  carried  out 
of  their  course  by  a  plot  of  the  captain's,  noth- 
ing could  discourage  them.  The  grip  with 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER"  275 

which  they  lield  on  can  only  be  typified  by  that 
of  John  Howland,  who,  washed  overboard  by  a 
tremendous  sea,  caught  a  trailing  rope  and  re- 
fused to  be  drowned.  They  had  sailed  on 
August  5th.  On  the  9th  of  November  Cape 
Cod  was  sighted.  This  was  north  of  their  in- 
tended destination ;  but  as  the  captain  insisted 
on  landing  them,  they  drew  up  a  compact  of 
government  and  subscribed  to  it,  lest  their  for- 
mer agreement  for  a  more  southerly  situation 
might  not  be  considered  binding  on  any  discon- 
tented spirits,  and  so  took  possession  of  their 
new  land.  A  small  deputation,  having  been 
sent  out  to  explore  in  a  shallop,  reported  that 
the  country  about  Plymouth  was  best  suited  to 
their  purposes,  and  here  they  landed  on  the 
16th  of  December.  The  Mayflower  remained 
at  anchorage  to  afford  them  shelter  until  they 
could  build  their  common-house,  which  was  be- 
gun on  Christmas  Day.  The  work  progressed 
slowly.  Scarcely  was  it  built  before  it  took  fire 
from  carelessness  in  watching  the  great  logs  blaz- 
ing in  the  wide  fireplace,  and  the  entire  work 
of  hewing  lumber  and  building  had  to  be 
done  again,  while  the  women  and  children  re- 
turned to  the  ship.  Then  sickness  fell  not  only 
upon  the  colonists,  but  upon  the  mariners,  so 
that  there  were  not  enough  able-bodied  sailors 


276  PATIENCE. 

to  manage  the  vessel,  and  they  were  forced  to 
remain.  So  terrible  was  the  epidemic  that  at 
one  time  there  were  only  seven  well  people 
to  nurse  the  others,  and  two  of  these  were 
William  Brewster  and  Captain  Miles  Standish, 
who  performed  the  most  menial  duties  for  their 
helpless  friends,  as  well  as  for  the  ship's  crew. 
Fifty  persons,  nearly  one-half  of  the  colony, 
died  in  that  terrible  first  winter.  But  spring 
came  at  length ;  small  fields  were  cleared  and 
planted,  and  tiny  cottages  were  built,  a  stock- 
ade of  pointed  logs  set  around  them  to  protect 
them  from  the  savages,  and  a  small  howitzer 
mounted  on  the  roof  of  the  meeting-house. 

One  consideration  troubled  them  greatly. 
The  charter  which  they  had  received  was 
for  Virginia,  and  they  had  settled  in  New 
England,  upon  lands  belonging  to  an  entirely 
different  company.  Patience,  happening  to 
hear  Elder  Brewster  say  that  the  Earl  of  "War- 
wick was  one  of  the  proprietors,  conceived  a 
bold  idea — she  would  write  him,  reminding 
him  of  his  promise  to  Wrestling  and  herself, 
and  beg  for  a  new  charter  for  the  settlers. 
Not  a  word  did  she  say  to  anyone  of  her  pur- 
pose, but  confided  the  letter  to  the  captain  of 
the  Mayflower.  This  man  showed  the  address 
to  Love,  jokingly  remarking  that  his  sweetheart 


CHILDREN   OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  277 

would  not  long  remain  in  that  desolate  coun- 
try. Love  was  thunderstruck.  He  could  not 
believe  that  Patience  was  fickle  or  had  re- 
pented her  resolution,  and  yet  why  should  she 
have  written  to  her  old  lover  ?  He  strove  to 
cast  away  all  suspicions  of  double-dealing,  but 
doubt  had  come  up  like  a  fog  to  blind  him,  and 
even  while  he  watched  her  serving  so  painstak- 
ingly or  bending  to  kiss  his  mother,  he  found 
himself  asking  whether  she  was  as  true  to  his 
brother  as  she  seemed.  All  through  her  fever 
in  her  delirium  she  had  called  piteously  for 
Wrestling,  but  since  her  recovery  a  dumb 
despair  had  settled  upon  her.  Sometimes  he 
found  her  alone,  looking  over  the  bay  to  the 
Mayflower  rocking  at  anchor.  Did  she  regret 
her  coming — was  she  longing  for  the  hedgerows 
of  Merrie  England  ? 

He  could  bear  this  vague,  unknown  trouble 
no  longer,  and  one  day  he  said  to  her  in  the 
presence  of  his  mother:  "Patience,  the  May- 
flower sails  for  England  to-morrow.  I  see 
plainly  that  you  are  wearing  your  heart  out 
with  us.  It  is  not  alone  that  the  bitter  climate 
and  terrible  privations  are  too  much  for  your 
delicate  frame,  but  you  despair  that  Wrestling 
will  ever  find  us  or  we  him.  It  may  be  as  you 
fear.  Perhaps  it  is  best  that  you  should  return 


278  PATIENCE. 

and  waste  your  young  life  no  longer.  If  you 
feel  so,  I  am  sure  that  Wrestling  him- 
self would  not  have  you  stay,  nor  will  we 
have  a  single  reproachful  thought  concerning 
you." 

"  I  can  only  answer  as  Ruth  did  to  her  moth- 
er-in-law," said  Patience ;  and  with  her  arras 
around  Mrs.  Brewster  she  repeated  the  beauti- 
ful words,  "  Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee  .  .  .  the 
Lord  do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  aught  but 
death  part  thee  and  me." 

"The  16th  of  March,"  writes  Mr.  Bradford, 
"  a  certaine  Indian  came  bouldly  amongst  them 
and  spoke  to  them  in  broken  English,  which 
they  could  well  understand  but  marvelled  at 
it.  He  told  them  also  of  another  whose  name 
was  Squanto,  who  had  been  in  England  and 
could  speak  better  English  than  him  selfe 
— with  whom  after  friendly  entertainment  and 
some  gifts  given  him  they  made  a  peace, — and 
he  continued  with  them  as  their  interpreter 
and  was  a  spetial  instrument  of  God  for  their 
good.  He  directed  them  how  to  set  their  corne, 
when  to  take  fish,  and  was  also  their  pilot  to 
bring  them  to  unknowne  places  for  their  profit 
and  never  left  them  till  he  dyed.  He  was  car- 
ried away  by  a  master  of  a  ship,  who  thought 
to  sell  him  for  a  slave  into  Spaine,  but  he  got 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  279 

away  for  England  and  lastly  was  brought  into 
these  parts  by  a  gentle-inan  imployed  by  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges." 

Captain  John  Smith,  famous  for  his  Indian 
adventures,  had  offered  to  go  out  with  the  Pil- 
grims, but  they  had  declined  his  services,  pre- 
ferring to  make  Miles  Standish,  whom  they  had 
learned  to  esteem  in  the  Netherlands,  their  com- 
mander in  all  military  matters.  Standish  had 
little  faith  in  any  Indian. 

The  next  year  when  their  challenge  was 
brought,  it  was  he  who  said  in  the  council : 

"  Truly  the  only  tongue  that  is  understood  by  a  savage 
Must  be  the  tongue  of  fire  that  speaks  from  the  mouth  of 
the  cannon." 

The  colony  doubtless  owed  its  life  to  his 
vigorous  defense ;  but  some  of  his  terrible 

o 

reprisals  troubled  the  kind-hearted  elder,  and 
the  grim  head  of  Wituwamut  impaled  on  one 
of  the  palisades  of  the  fort  caused  Patience  to 
shudder  whenever  she  passed  that  way.  A 
wonderful  thing  happened  in  later  years,  for  a 
pair  of  wrens  eventually  made  their  nest  in  the 
ghastly  skull. 

Their  former  pastor,  John  Robinson,  was 
pained  by  the  report  of  their  dealings  with  the 
Indians,  and  later  wrote  from  Holland : 


280  PATIENCE. 

"  Oil !  how  happy  a  thing  had  it  been,  if  you 
had  converted  some,  before  you  had  killed 
any.  Upon  this  occasion  let  me  be  boulde  to 
exhorte  you  seriously  to  consider  of  ye  dis- 
position of  your  Captaine,  whom  I  love,  tho 
ther  is  cause  to  feare  that  by  provocation,  ther 
may  be  wanting  in  him  that  tenderness  of  ye 
life  of  man  made  after  God's  image  which  is 
meete.  It  is  a  thing  more  glorious  in  men's 
eyes  than  pleasing  in  God's,  to  be  a  terrour  to 
poor  barbarous  people.  Unto  him  who  is  nere 
to  them  which  are  farr  from  one  another  I  com- 
mend you.  Your  truly  loving 

"  JOHN  ROBINSON." 

Squanto  and  another  Indian  named  Hobo- 
mok  proved  themselves  the  white  men's 
friends,  and  were  of  great  service  to  them  as 
interpreters  with  the  great  chief  Massasoit,  with 
whom  they  were  at  peace  for  years.  They 
served  also  as  guides  in  the  trackless  forests, 
and  as  teachers  of  such  woodcraft  as  hunting, 
trapping,  canoe  building,  snowshoe  making,  the 
tanning  of  furs,  and  the  cultivation  of  corn  and 
tobacco. 

With  the  spring  and  summer  life  showed  its 
happier  aspect.  Just  as  the  Mayflower  left  their 
shores  the  first  pink  flower  of  spring  appeared, 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  281 

and  the  Pilgrims  gave  it  the  name  of  the  reced- 
ing ship.  The  tiny  blossoms, 

"Fragrant,  filling  the  air  with  a  strange  and  wonderful 

sweetness, 
Modest  and  simple,  the  type  of  Puritan  maidens," 

were  harbingers  of  hope  for  the  Pilgrims. 
From  the  time  of  their  appearance  the  sickness 
left  them,  the  snows  melted,  and  the  time  of 
the  singing  of  birds  came.  Gardens  were 
planted  and  homes  were  built. 

"  All  ye  somer,"  writes  Bradford,  "  ther  was 
no  wante.  And  now  began  to  come  in  store  of 
water  foule,  and  great  store  of  wild  turkies, 
of  which  they  took  many,  besides  venison. 
Besides  they  had  since  harvest,  about  a  peck  of 
meal  a  week  to  a  person ;  which  made  many 
write  so  largely  of  their  plenty  to  their  friends 
in  England,  which  were  not  fained  but  true 
reports." 

These  wild  turkeys  furnished  the  Pilgrims 
their  first  Thanksgiving  dinner,  and  inaugurated 
what  has  continued  to  this  day  the  piece  de 
resistance  of  the  feast.  They  had  cause  for 
thanksgiving,  for  at  this  time  the  good  ship 
Fortune  arrived,  "  with  thirty-five  persons  to 
remaine  and  live  in  ye  plantation,  which  did 
not  a  little  rejoice  them.  Most  of  them  were 


282  PATIENCE. 

lusty  yonge  men,  and  many  of  them  wild 
enough,  who  little  considered  whither  or  about 
what  they  wente.  Neither  was  ther  any 
amongst  them  that  ever  saw  a  beaver  skin  till 
they  came  hear,  and  were  informed  by  Squanto." 
In  spite  of  their  unruliness  arid  ignorance  the 
plantation  was  glad  of  this  addition  of 
strength. 

This  ship  brought  letters  to  a  number  of  the 
colonists,  among  others  one  for  Patience  from 
Sir  Edwin  Sandys. 

"  You  will  be  rejoiced  to  hear,"  he  wrote, 
"  touching  the  change  of  charter  concerning 
which  nay  friend  William  Brewster  writ  me, 
that,  though  I  could  do  nothing  (for  when  his 
letter  arrived  I  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  and 
I  have  never  had  influence  with  the  Plymouth 
Company),  yet  at  this  very  time  the  Earl  of 
Warwick,  who  instituted  the  proceedings 
against  me,  most  marvelously  withdrew  them, 
so  that  I  was  released,  and  I  hear  that  he  hath 
himself  sent  your  colony  the  charter  whereof  ye 
stand  in  need." 

So  here  was  indeed  cause  for  public  thanks- 
giving, for  the  charter  came  by  the  same  ship. 
Its  granting  seemed  to  the  Brewsters  little 
short  of  miraculous,  until  Patience  confessed 
her  agency  in  the  matter,  when  all  the  doubts 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER,"  283 

which  had  oppressed  Love's  mind  fled  away. 
He  read  over  and  over  the  grant  of  "  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  to  every  colonist,  at  a  yearly 
rent  of  two  shillings  an  acre,  with  liberty  to 
hawk,  fish  and  fowl,  to  truck,  trade  and  traffic 
with  the  savage ;  to  establish  laws,  to  encounter, 
expulse,  repel  and  resist  by  force  of  arms  all 
intruders."  The  charter  was  sealed  with  the 
great  seal  of  the  New  England  Company,  and 
signed  for  its  council  by  their  Graces  the  Duke 
of  Hamilton,  the  Duke  of  Lenox,  Lord  Sheffield, 
Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  Robert  Rich,  Earl 
of  Warwick. 

When  Love  read  the  last  name  he  under- 
stood all  her  devotion,  and  that  the  colony 
owed  its  very  existence  to  Patience. 

The  next  winter  was  a  more  endurable  one ; 
better,  houses  were  built,  there  was  little  sick- 
ness and  more  food.  Other  ships  came  out, 
bringing  more  settlers,  some  of  whom,  however, 
proved  undesirable  neighbors,  and  were  only 
saved  from  perishing  by  the  chanty  of  the  more 
thrifty  pilgrims. 

A  new  settlement  of  their  own  was  started 
at  a  little  distance  from  Plymouth,  and  called 
Duxbury,  after  the  former  home  of  Miles 
Standish.  Hither  Staudish  and  the  Brewsters 
and  others  removed;  and  Love,  after  he  had 


284  PATIENCE. 

finished  his  father's  house,  built  a  little  apart 
from  it  a  lodge  of  his  own.  Patience  was  glad 
at  heart  when  she  saw  this,  for  she  fancied  that 
he  had  outgrown  his  old  infatuation,  and  had 
consoled  himself  with  the  love  of  some  sweet 
Puritan  maiden.  Love  had  never  told  her  of 
his  passion,  but  Patience  would  not  have  had  a 
woman's  intuitions  if  she  had  been  unconscious 
of  it.  She  had  been  very  shy  of  him,  but  now 
that  she  thought  all  danger  was  past  she  was 
sweet  and  sisterly.  Still  Love  did  not  presume ; 
he  noted  the  yearning  look  in  her  eyes  when 
she  was  unemployed  and  sat  with  listless  hands 
looking  away  to  the  sea.  He  noticed  how  thin 
she  had  grown,  and  how,  at  rare  moments, 
when  she  thought  herself  unobserved,  the  tears 
would  fall  upon  her  sewing.  Then  he  would 
seize  his  tools  and  stride  fiercely  to  his  work ; 
and  the  blows  would  rain  heavily  on  the  timbers 
as  he  built  the  house  which  was  to  be  hers 
indeed,  but  not  his. 

At  last,  when  it  was  finished,  a  strange  letter 
came  to  Love.  It  was  brought  by  the  captain 
of  a  vessel  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick, 
which  had  been  sent  out  to  explore  and  trade 
along  the  coast.  The  ship  had  come  from 
England,  but  the  letter  had  had  a  long  journey 
before  it  set  out  on  this  last  voyage,  for  it  had 


Copyrighted  and  published  by  M.  Knoedler  &  Co.,  New  York. 
ROSE    STANDISH. 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER*  285 

started  from  El  Dorado  and  gone  first  to  Spain 
and  thrice  to  England.  Love  felt  at  once  that 
it  brought  news  of  his  brother,  though  it  was 
not  in  his  hand.  He  remembered  that  Raleigh 
had  said  that  Wrestling  had  a  friend  in  Father 
Greenway,  and  he  turned  to  the  last  page,  hop- 
ing to  find  his  signature,  and  was  astonished  to 
find  that  of  Philippa  Fawkes. 

"Perchance  you  will  not  remember,"  she  wrote, 
"  the  outlaws  whom  you  met  in  Sherwood  For- 
est, and  so  kindly  sent  upon  their  way.  But 
Philippa  has  not  had  so  many  kindnesses  in  her 
life  that  she  can  forget  any  of  them,  or  cease  to 
wish  to  repay  them  when  it  is  in  her  power. 
Here,  in  Guiana,  fate  has  willed  that  your 
brother  is  a  prisoner,  and  that  she  hath  such 
influence  with  the  Governor  that  he  hath  given 
his  word  that  Wrestling  shall  be  set  at  liberty, 
provided  the  conditions  herein  inclosed  be  com- 
plied with.  Come,  then,  with  all  haste  to  San 
Thome,  for  now  there  is  peace  between  Spain 
and  England,  and  your  brother  shall  be 
free." 

The  paper  to  which  the  latter  referred  was  a 
a  safe  conduct  written  in  Spanish  and  signed 
by  Governor  Acuna,  promising  that  if  Love 
Brewster  would  personally  appear  and  answer 
that  his  brother  would  nevermore  fight  against 


286  PATIENCE. 

Spain  he  would  be  allowed  to  go   where   he 
would. 

This  was  astonishing  news  for  all  the  family, 
to  whom  Love  read  it.  A  great  light  shot  up 
in  Patience's  eyes,  and  then  seemed  to  go  out 
again,  leaving  her  face  deadly  pale,  as  Elder 
Brewster  suspected  some  trap  in  the  smoothly 
worded  safe  conduct. 

But  Love  had  seen  the  light  in  the  girl's 
face,  and  his  resolution  was  taken.  "  I  will  go 
out  to  El  Dorado,"  he  said,  "  and  bring  Wrest- 
ling back  with  me." 

"But  how  will  you  go?"  asked  his  father. 
"Our  colony  has  no  fleet  which  it  can  send  out 
under  you  with  which  to  command  the  respect 
of  Spain  and  cause  that  nation  to  deliver  up  its 
prisoners.  Like  Jacob  of  old,  I  cry  to  these 
Spaniards,  'Ye  know  that  my  wife  bare  me 
two  sons,  and  the  one  went  out  from  me,  and  I 
said,  Surely  he  is  torn  in  pieces,  and  I  saw  him 
not  since ;  and  if  ye  take  this  also  from  me,  and 
mischief  befall  him,  ye  shall  bring  down  my 
gray  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.'  Why 
should  you  go,  Love  ?  Why  is  your  word  bet- 
ter than  that  of  your  brother  ?  Let  us  write  to 
Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  and  let  him  negotiate  with 
the  Spanish  ambassador,  Count  Gondomar,  that 
Wrestling  be  released  by  order  of  King  Philip." 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER"  287 

"  You  forget,  dear  father/'  Love  replied, 
"  that  we  tried  all  this  before  we  left  England, 
and  that  though  our  country  was  nominally  at 
peace  with  Spain,  so  that  King  James  had 
offered  to  deliver  up  Raleigh  to  Philip,  Sir  Ed- 
win assured  us  that  it  was  vain  to  expect  a  reci- 
procity of  such  courtesy,  and  that  nothing  could 
be  done  through  diplomatic  negotiation.  But 
I  have  here  another  letter.  It  is  from  Lord 
Rich.  He  says  that  this  communication  of 
Philippa's  was  sent  to  his  care,  and  though  he 
has  not  opened  it,  and  knows  not  from  whom 
it  comes,  yet  he  sees  that  i£  is  from  Spain;  it 
reminds  him  of  Wrestling's  captivity,  and  he 
has  given  the  captain  of  his  ship  orders  to 
search  for  him ;  he  prays  us  also  to  give  him 
any  tidings  that  might  help  to  this  end.  I 
have  conferred  with  Captain  Cromwell,  who 
served  under  Captain  Argall  when  he  ravaged 
the  coast  of  America  from  Arcadia  to  His- 
paniola,  taking  the  French  prisoners,  caus- 
ing the  Dutch  to  surrender  at  Manhattan,  and 
robbing  the  Spanish  planters  of  their  negro 
slavres.  He  is  a  man  of  like  resolute  spirit,  and 
is  bound  now  for  the  West  Indies.  He  will 
gladly  take  me  up  the  Orinoco,  and  bring  back 
Wrestling.  He  hath  warrant  enough  from  the 
Earl  of  Warwick  for  the  undertaking.  Never 


288  PATIENCE. 

fear,  father,  that  there  will  be  bloodshed.  We 
have  the  Governor's  safe  conduct,  and  if  Lord 
Rich's  father  was  said  to  send  out  his  ships  on 
piratical  enterprises,  the  present  Earl  of  War- 
wick is  too  shrewd  a  man  to  give  his  captains 
license  to  commit  depredations  in  time  of 
peace."* 

Good  Elder  Brewster  was  sorely  troubled. 
"  Surely,"  he  said,  "  it  is  a  strange  coincidence 
that  the  summons  for  us  to  send  for  Wrestling 
and  the  means  to  do  so  should  come  to  us 
at  the  same  time.  It  is  like  the  Lord's 
doings." 

"  It  is  the  Lord's  doings,"  said  his  wife,  "  and 
they  are  ever  marvelous  in  my  eyes." 

The  second  winter  had  melted  away,  and  now 
again  it  was  spring.  Just  before  Love  sailed 
he  had  given  Patience  the  key  of  the  little 
house  which  he  had  built.  "  It  is  for  you,"  he 
said,  "  and  I  want  you  and  Wrestling  to  live 
there.  If  he  comes  back  before  I  do  you  must 
consider  it  my  wedding  gift  to  you  both.  And 
meantime  and  always  it  is  yours  to  use  or  dis- 
pose of  as  you  please." 

So  Patience  gathered  the  children  of  the  col- 
ony together  and  held  the  first  school  there. 
They  all  loved  her  dearly — Jasper  and  Ellen 
See  Note  e,  Appendix. 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  289 

More,  Humility  Cooper,  Damaris  Hopkins  and 
little  Oceanus  Hopkins  and  Peregrine  White, 
the  three-year-old  babies  that  were  born  at  sea ; 
Resolved  "White,  and  the  Allerton  girls,  Re- 
member and  Mary,  whose  mother  died  the  first 
winter,  and  the  two  naughty  Billington  boys, 
who  were  always  running  away ;  Desire  Min- 
ter,  who  was  older  than  the  rest,  but  too  deli- 
cate to  do  any  work ;  and  the  Indian  Squanto, 
who  already  knew  how  to  read  and  write  a 
little,  and  wished  to  learn  more. 

It  was  pleasant  to  see  how,  when  the  Dux- 
bury  contingent  set  out  on  its  Sunday  march  to 
the  meeting-house  at  Plymouth,  the  children 
scampered  to  see  which  should  walk  with 
Patience.  It  was  usually  a  race  between 
Humility  Cooper  and  Resolved  White,  and 
Humility  belied  her  name  when  she  came  in 
ahead,  and,  seizing  Patience's  hand  in  triumph, 
would  make  mocking  mouths  at  Resolved,  who 
might  have  won  had  he  not  been  restrained  at 
the  finish  by  ill-rewarded  gallantry. 

The  congregation  assembled  at  beat  of  drum 

o      o 

and  marched  across  the  meadows  in  military 
order,  all  of  the  men  carrying  their  muskets, 
two  of  the  strongest  striding  on  ahead,  as  an 
advance  guard ;  then  Elder  Brewster  and  his 
good  wife  leading  the  procession  proper,  with 


290  PATIENCE. 

Patience ;  and  Miles  Stanclish  and  John  Alden, 
their  feud  healed,  followed  next  with  their  two 
wives,  with  the  other  colonists  in  due  order 
according  to  their  dignity. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  the  Pilgrims 
scorned  social  distinctions,  or  while  they  believed 
in  political  equality  paid  no  outward  observ- 
ance to  official  rank.  It  was  the  duty  of  a  com- 
mittee to  "  dignify  the  meeting  "  —that  is,  seat 
the  congregation  according  to  their  importance, 
and  later  this  ranking  became  even  more 
punctilious.  Whittier  tells  us  how 

"  In  the  goodly  house  of  worship,  where  in  order  due  and 

fit, 
As  by  public  vote  directed,  classed  and  ranked  the  people 

sit  ; 
Mistress  first  and  good  wife  after,  clerkly  squire  before  the 

clown, 
From  the  brave  coat,  lace  embroidered,  to  the  gray  frock 

shading  down." 

Work  is  the  best  comfort  when  the  heart  is 
sick  with  waiting,  and  Patience  found  her 
scholars  as  great  a  blessing  to  her  as  she  was  to 
them.  Squanto  was  not  the  least  interesting 
among  them.  He  delighted  in  telling  her  of 
his  life  in  London,  where  with  another  Indian 
named  Harry  he  had  lived  among  the  show-folk 
of  Bankside.  He  did  not  scruple  to  assert  that 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  291 

these  actors,  mountebanks,  and  bear-baiters  were 
much  more  amusing  people  than  the  Pilgrims. 
There  were  mummers  and  tumblers,  dancers, 
jugglers,  bear-wards,  tapsters,  hostlers,  water- 
men, and  all  the  rowdy  sporting  fraternity 
which  resorted  to  the  great  Bear  Garden,  and 
the  inns  in  its  neighborhood,  which  was  like 
a  continual  circus  ground,  with  sideshows  of 
every  attraction  then  invented.  There  were 
itinerant  gingerbread  men,  too,  and  gamblers 
with  peas  and  thimble,  strolling  singers  and 
gipsy  fortune  tellers.  Gay  gallants  and  gaudily 
dressed  ladies  who  drank  freely  and  scattered 
their  money  about  with  prodigal  hand,  came 
from  the  court  across  the  river.  Harry  had 
pointed  out  the  Spanish  ambassador  to  him, 
and  Squanto  had  heard  him  say  that  bear-hunt- 
ing was  almost  as  good  sport  as  a  bull-fight  at 
Madrid.  Squanto  had  never  fought  with  the 
bears,  they  were  too  fierce  and  strong ;  he  had 
contented  himself  with  appearing  in  a  full  dress 
of  artistic  war-paint  and  shooting  arrows  at  a 
mark ;  but  Harry  was  so  brave  that  he  was  not 
afraid  to  wrestle  with  the  beasts.  He  was  not 
allowed  to  kill  them,  or  even  to  hurt  them  too 
severely,  for  they  were  too  valuable,  and  so  the 
bears  who  did  not  always  conform  to  sporting 
rules  and  were  very  ferocious  had  an  unfair  ad- 


292  PATIENCE. 

vantage.  Some  of  them,  from  having  appeared 
again  and  again,  were  star  performers,  and  when 
the  appearance  of  "  Hugging  Hunks  "  or  "  Tug- 
ging Scratcherly  "  was  billed  there  was  always 
a  greater  attendance  than  usual.  This  part  of 
London  was  the  "  Bishop  of  Winchester's 
Liberty  "  but  his  Grace  did  not  distress  himself 
to  inquire  into  what  villainy  was  practiced 
there,  and  the  quarter-staff  players  were  often 
midnight  ruffians,  practicing  in  dead  earnest 
the  feats  of  arms  which  they  exercised  in  sport 
during  the  day.  With  all  this  knowledge  of 
the  seamy  side  of  English  life,  which  often 
shocked  Patience,  she  was  frequently  astonished 
to  find  that  Squanto  was  familiar  with  some 
Bible  story  which  she  began  to  tell  him,  and 
this  was  from  seeing  it  acted  in  a  miracle  play. 
David  and  Goliath  was  his  favorite,  though 
Jonah  and  the  whale  was  a  close  follower  ;  and 
he  corrected  her  version  of  the  latter  story  by 
assuring  her  that  the  whale's  interior  was 
fitted  up  as  a  comfortable  cabin,  for  he 
had  seen  Jonah  smoking  at  its  curtained 
window. 

When  Patience  asked  what  had  -  become  of 
Harry,  Squanto  told  her  that  he  had  gone  to 
his  own  people  in  a  far-distant  country,  for  he 
came  from  a  different  tribe,  and  they  could  not 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  "MAYFLOWER."  293 

understand  each  other's  language,  so  that  when 
they  spoke  together  it  was  in  English.  Harry 
it  was  who  had  taught  him  to  love  English 

o  o 

people,  for  he  was  devoted  to  a  great  Captain 
Raleigh,  who  had  visited  his  country,  and  who 
he  hoped  would  some  day  be  King  of  America. 
Squanto  was  grieved  when  he  was  told  that 
Raleigh  was  dead,  for  he  was  certain  that  the 
news  would  break  Harry's  heart.  They  had 
promised  each  other  that  whenever  they  made 
journeys  into  new  lands  they  would  carve 
certain  signs  upon  the  trees,  so  that  if  the  other 
passed  that  way  he  would  recognize  his  friend's 
signal.  Squanto,  whose  observation  of  the 
English  had  been  limited  to  the  classes  which 

o 

made  a  business  of  pleasure,  was  greatly  puz- 
zled when  on  Christmas  Day  the  "  lustie  young 
men "  who  came  over  in  the  Fortune  amused 
themselves  with  playing  ball  and  pitching  the 
bar;  the  governor  told  them  there  should  be 
"  no  gaming  or  revelling  in  ye  streets  and  tooke 
away  their  implements." 

But  now  the  colony  was  very  thankful  for 
the  presence  of  these  athletic  young  fellows,  for 
there  was  more  serious  work  cut  out  for  them 
than  ball-playing.  The  Indians'  defiance,  the 
rattlesnake's  skin  of  arrows,  had  been  sent  in, 
and  Miles  Standish 


294  PATIENCE. 

"Then  from  the  rattlesnake's  skin  with  a  sudden  con- 
temptuous gesture 

Jerking  the  Indian  arrows,  filled  it  with  powder  and 
bullets." 

Before  moving  on  the  offensive,  Squanto 
was  sent  out  to  see  what  had  excited  the 
Indians,  and  the  colony  awaited  his  return  with 
impatience. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    END    OF    THE    PILGRIMAGE. 

The  weary  pilgrim  now  at  rest 

Hugs  with  delight  his  quiet  rest, 

Blesses  himself  to  think  upon 

His  dangers  past  and  travels  done. 

The  briers  and  thorus  no  more  shall  scratch, 

No  hungry  wolves  at  him  may  catch. 

He  erring  paths  no  more  shall  tread 

Nor  wild  fruits  eat  instead  of  bread. 

— ANNE  DUDLEY  BRADSTREET. 

HE  cause  of 
the  strange 
uneasiness  and 
warlike  dem- 
onstrations 
of  the  Indians 
was  soon  ex- 
plained, for  a 
ship  arrived  from  England  just  at  this  time, 
bringing,  in  this  circuitous  way,  the  news  of  a 
great  Indian  massacre  in  Virginia.  The  facts 
were  terrible  enough ;  for  three  hundred  and 
forty-seven  of  the  colonists  had  been  murdered 
by  the  savages,  but  the  first  rumor  exaggerated 

290 


296  PATIENCE. 

the  truth,  and  it  was  reported  that  the  colony 
had  been  entirely  wiped  out.  At  the  same 
time  with  these  woeful  tidings  the  ship  brought 
to  Patience  a  letter  which  was  like  a  voice 
from  the  dead,  for  it  was  from  Wrestling  ;  and 
though  he  wrote  in  high  spirits,  he  wrote  from 
Heuricus  in  Virginia,  a  town  which  they  were 
informed  had  been  utterly  destroyed  since  the 
ship  Prosperous  had  left  for  England  ;  another 
vessel  had  brought  the  news  to  the  mother 
country,  following  closely  on  the  Prosperous, 
and  both  had  arrived  together  just  as  the  ship 
for  New  England  was  about  to  leave. 

Wrestling's  parents  did  not  doubt  that  the 
hand  which  wrote  the  loving  lines  lay  buried 
beneath  the  ruins  of  Henricus  ;  but  to  Patience 
the  letter  seemed  a  refutation  of  the  rumor. 

WRESTLING'S  LETTER. 

I. 
"  MY  SWEET  PATIENCE. 

"  Dear  Heart  and  True :  Having  been  wonder- 
fully brought  to  this  safe  harborage,  I  write 
thee  by  the  good  ship  Prosperous,  which  I  find 
about  to  sail  unto  England.  Not  that  I  think 
thou  art  still  there,  for  my  good  friend  George 
Sandys  has  told  me  that  thou  wentest  forth 
with  my  people  in  their  setting  out  to  New 


Copyrighted  and  published  by  M.  Knottier  &  Co.,  New  York. 
PRISCILLA. 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      297 

England ;  but  inasmuch  as  ships  are  few  be- 
tween this  country  and  the  north,  I  have  been 
in  great  dubiety  of  mind  whether  it  would  not 
be  the  speedier  manner  to  return  into  England, 
and  thence  out  asfaiu  to  where  thou  art ;  I  have 

O 

resolved  to  send  this  letter  by  that  longer  way, 
though  I  myself  shall  make  hazard  of  the 
shorter  in  distance.  For  I  would  have  thee 
know,  if  so  be  my  journey  prove  the  longer  in 
time,  that  at  this  writing  I  am  safe,  and  on  my 
way  to  thee. 

"I  trust  to  find  passage  ere  long  in  some 
chance  vessel  which  shall  leave  me  at  the 
Dutch  settlement  of  Manhattan  and  thence  to 
find  my  way  as  best  I  can.  For  my  pen  can 
not  write  the  eagerness  with  which  I  am  pos- 
sessed to  see  thy  face  once  more,  and  next  to 
thee,  sweetheart,  my  beloved  mother,  to  whom, 
as  well  as  to  my  revered  father,  I  beg  thee  to 
give  my  duty,  and  my  love  to  my  dear  brother. 
Full  well  can  I  picture  to  myself  the  comfort 
thou  hast  been  to  them,  and  I  thank  thee  from 
the  bottom  of  my  heart  for  the  daughterly  and 
and  sisterly  love  which  thou  hast  shown  to  my 
kindred.  Oh,  my  beloved,  if  it  is  the  Lord's  will 
that  I  win  to  thee,  my  life  shall  convince  thee 
of  the  gratitude  which  my  tongue  cannot  utter 
nor  my  pen  form  into  words.  And  since  words 


298  PATIENCE. 

are  vain,  I  will  not  more  essay  them  except  to 
bes;  tLee  to  look  into  thine  own  heart,  and 

O  * 

measuring  its  tenderness  for  me,  believe  that  it 
is  surpassed  a  million  times  by  the  love  I  bear 
thee.  And  if  thou  wouldst  know  how  often  I 
say  I  love  thee,  go  out  upon  a  starlit  night  and 
hear  from  every  one  of  the  stars  the  words,  '  I 
love  thee,'  for  to  each  one  of  those  bright  orbs  I 
have  given  this  message,  '  Wrestling  loves  thee, 
Wrestling  loves  thee,'  that  they  may  unceasingly 
repeat  it  until  I  come. 

"  And  indeed  it  has  given  me  a  comforting 
sense  of  nearness  when  I  consider  that  we  are 
but  two  looks  distant  from  one  another,  since  I 
may  look  upon  those  stars  and  they  on  thee. 

"  But  to  speak  of  my  love  for  thee  were  an 
endless  matter ;  and  my  parents  (and  thou  too) 
will  be  fain  to  know  of  my  happenings  since  I 
was  separated  from  my  great  leader,  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh.  Therefore,  as  there  is  much  to  tell 
and  I  have  still  some  days  before  the  sailing  of 
the-  Prosperous,  I  will  take  my  time,  not  at 
one  sitting,  but  a  little  here  and  more  there,  and 
relate  in  detail  all  that  betided  me.  And 
whereas  what  I  have  written  thus  far  is  for  thee 
alone,  sweetheart,  what  follows  is  for  thee  to 
share  with  my  family,  save  that  at  times  I  shall 
not  refrain  from  a  word  meant  more  particularly 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      290 

for  thee,  for  thou  art  at  all  times  uppermost  in 
my  mind.     And  so,  I  rest, 

"  Thy  true  lover, 

"  WRESTLING." 

II. 

"  Revered  Parents,  Best  Beloved  Patience,  and 
My  Very  Dear  Brother:  You  must  know 
already  how  we  fell  into  a  trap  at  San  Thome, 
the  town  having  been  newly  garrisoned  by 
soldiers  sent  out  from  Spain  to  drive  us  from 
that  region,  our  expedition  having  been  reported 
to  Spain  by  some  traitor.  The  town  is  built 
on  a  small  tributary  of  the  Orinoco,  which, 
though  it  afforded  a  waterway  for  the  canoes 
of  the  Indians,  was  not  navigable  for  our  larger 
boats,  and  this  particular  site  had  been  chosen 
because  it  was  as  near  as  the  mines  could  be 
approached  in  any  fashion  by  water. 

"  We  had  marched  from  the  Orinoco,  where  we 
had  left  our  boats,  straight  through  the  forest, 
following  an  Indian  trail  which  we  had  found 
difficult  enough,  and  from  San  Thome  to  the 
mines.  When  the  Spaniards  were  first  in- 
formed by  their  scouts  that  we  were  ascend- 
ing the  Orinoco,  they  sent  all  their  women  and 
children,  with  their  valuables  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  provisions  which  were  in  San 


300  PA  TIENC& 

Thome"  to  a  trading-post  and  village  far  up  the 
little  tributary  which  I  have  mentioned.  This 
trading-post  was  beyond  the  unbroken  forest  on 
the  borders  of  the  great  plains  which  were  the 
broad  grazing  lands  of  wild  cattle  and  horses, 
and  here  also  were  some  scattered  plantations. 
The  Indians  came  often  to  the  village  to  trade 
and  were  friendly,  so  that  the  Spaniards  had  in 
this  place  a  secure  and  plenteous  asylum  of 
refuge. 

"  On  the  taking  of  San  Thome,  the  greater  part 
of  the  garrison  fled  by  means  of  canoes  that 
were  secreted  near  the  river,  and  joined  their 
families  at  this  asylum.  And  when  the  Eng- 
lish expedition,  after  burning  the  town  of  San 
Thome,  retreated  through  the  forest  to  the 
great  river  where  they  had  left  their  boats,  the 
Spaniards  returned  and  with  their  Indian 
allies  harried  us  upon  our  inarch.  It  so  fell  out 
that  I  was  put  in  charge  of  the  Spanish 
prisoners,  and,  marching  more  slowly  than  the 
main  detachment,  was  overtaken.  The  men 
that  had  been  given  me  for  a  guard,  taking  to 
their  legs  at  the  appearance  of  the  enemy,  got 
off  safe,  and  rejoined  the  main  force  under 
Keymis ;  but  my  prisoners  were  rescued,  and  I 
tied  up  in  their  stead.  I  would  doubtless  have 
been  killed  at  once,  but  that  Father  Greenway 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      301 

plead  for  my  life  with  Governor  Acufia, 
arguing  very  shrewdly  that  it  was  better  to 
save  me  alive  for  the  present,  and  to  send  me 
into  Spain  at  the  first  opportunity,  where 
doubtless  his  most  Catholic  majesty,  King 
Philip,  would  derive  much  pleasure  from  put- 
ting me  to  death  with  suitable  tortures,  after 
he  had  obtained  what  information  he  could  of 
me.  This  advice,  while  it  was  instrumental  in 
saving  my  life,  had  the  effect  that  I  was  very 
carefully  guarded,  and  could  by  no  means  find 
any  opportunity  to  escape. 

"The  Spaniards,  returning,  set  to  work  at  the 
rebuilding  of  a  few  of  the  most  needful  of  the 

<j 

houses  of  San  Thome ;  but  they  had  lost  so 
much  by  the  onslaught  of  the  English  that, 
though  they  had  provisions  for  several  months 
to  come,  they  were  greatly  discouraged.  The 
soldiers  also  who  had  come  out  to  fight  would 
not  work,  but  made  excursions  against  the 
friendly  Indians,  pillaging  and  robbing  them, 
and  raising  such  wrath  that  the  Governor  said 
that  the  colony  had  been  safer  without  them ; 
and  their  captain,  being  angered,  threatened  to 
draw  off  his  men,  and,  descending  the  Orinoco, 
wait  at  its  mouth  for  the  appearance  of  some 
vessel  to  take  them  back  to  Spain.  But  this 
would  have  been  to  leave  the  colonists  to  the 


302  PATIENCE. 

mercy  of  the  savages,  and  the  Governor  patched 
up  a  peace  with  the  captain,  so  that  lie  prom- 
ised that  the  greater  part  of  his  men  should  not 
go  until  transportation  were  provided  for  all, 
for  the  colonists  were  sick  of  their  adventure, 
and  clamored  to  return  to  Spain.  The  cap- 
tain, therefore,  with  a  small  guard,  went  down 
the  river  to  watch  for  a  chance  sail,  that  he 
might  render  a  report  of  these  proceedings  to 
King  Philip,  and  ask  permission  for  the  aban- 
donment of  the  colony  and  means  for  their 
return. 

"He  demanded  that  I  should  go  with  him,  as 
Governor  Acuna  had  promised,  and  doubtless  I 
would  have  been  thus  sent  to  my  death  but  for 
a  merciful  dispensation,  which  happened  in  this 
wise : 

"  When  the  women  returned  to  the  town, — 
after  that  lodgings  had  been  built  for  them, — 
some  were  curious  to  see  the  English  prisoner, 
and  would  come  and  regard  me  at  my  labors, 
making  many  mocking  remarks  and  derisive 
gestures. 

"  Among  these  women  I  marked  a  young  girl 
who  said  nothing,  but  regarded  me  very  fix- 
edly from  under  the  shadow  of  her  black  man- 
tilla. I  was  breaking  stone,  and  I  would  not 

o  * 

content   her  by  letting   her   see   that  she  at- 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      303 

tracted  niy  notice,  until,  none  observing,  she 
threw  me  the  rose  from  her  hair.  Then,  in  the 
vindictiveness  of  my  heart,  I  took  the  rose  and 
laid  it  on  the  rock  before  me,  and  with  my 
heavy  mallet  battered  it  to  pulp.  She  spoke 
no  word,  but  that  evening  Father  Green  way 
came  to  the  window  of  my  prison  and  said,  '  It 
cannot  be,  my  sou,  that  you  recognized  the  lady 
who  threw  you  a  rose  to-day,  or  you  would  not 
have  treated  her  so  unmannerly.' 

"  ''Recognized  her ! '  I  repeated.  l  How  should 
I  ?  And  who,  then,  is  she  ? ' 

"  '  She  is  the  adopted  daughter  of  Governor 
Acuna,'  replied  the  Jesuit ;  '  and,  as  such,  she 
has  power  to  hinder  you  being  carried  mana- 
cled to  King  Philip  and  the  tender  mercies  of 
our  Inquisition — a  thing  which  I  find  it  not  in 
my  power  to  prevent.  Be  more  gallant,  there- 
fore, and  hide  her  favors  in  your  heart  rather 
than  treat  them  with  such  scorn.' 

"  Then  I  replied  stoutly  that  I  would  liefer 
go  to  my  death  than  to  be  disloyal  to  thee, 
sweet  Patience ;  whereat  the  Jesuit  smilingly 
replied,  '  Behold  the  conceit  which  is  bound  up 
in  the  heart  of  man  !  for  what  the  maid  offers 
you  is  not  love,  but  friendship.  She  has  told 
me  in  confession  that  though  you  once  did  her 
a  great  kindness,  which  she  is  now  willing  to 


304  PATIENCE. 

repay,  yet  it  is  not  for  love  of  you,  but  of  your 
brother,  that  she  will  do  this.' 

"  With  that  I  gave  a  great  cry.  *  It  is  Phil- 
ippa,  Philippa  Fawkes  ! ' 

u  l  Yea,  Philippa,'  said  a  woman's  voice,  and 
a  small  gemmed  hand  was  thrust  through  the 
grated  window  of  the  cell  where  I  lay.  '  But 
speak  not  the  name  of  my  martyred  father ;  I 
am  Philippa  di  Acuna,  through  the  love  of  my 
kind  foster  parents,  for  I  doubt  that  I  were 
safe,  even  in  Spain,  if  your  wicked  Cecil  knew 
that  any  child  of  my  father  still  lived.' 

"  Then  I  told  her  that  Cecil  was  dead,  and 
that  there  were  many  in  England  who  hated 
his  memory  as  much  as  she. 

"  '  That  may  well  be,'  she  replied,  '  but  they 
hate  the  Spaniard  too,  for  there  is  your  Sir  Wal- 
ter, who  must  needs  come  with  fire  and  sword 
to  ferret  us  out  at  this  distance,  when  good 
Father  Greenway  here  would  have  released 
him  from  prison.  You  English  are  an  ungrate- 
ful race,  constant  to  nothing  but  hatred ;  and  I 
marvel  not  that  you  crushed  my  poor  rose,  as 
you  would  doubtless  crush  ^r  if  you  had  the 
power.' 

"  Then  I  told  her  that  1  would  never  have 
done  her  this  despite  if  I  had  known  who  she 
was;  but  Father  Greenway  interrupted  our 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      305 

converse,  and  bade  me  tell  her  quickly,  what  I 
had  said  to  him  some  days  before,  concerning 
the  purifying  of  gold  ore,  that  she  might  report 
it  to  her  foster  father ;  for  Governor  Acuna  had 
told  the  Jesuit  that  he  would  listen  to  nothing 
more  from  him  concerning  me,  for  as  prisoner  of 
war,  I  belonged  of  right  to  the  captain,  and 
must  go  to  Madrid.  Then  I  told  Philippa  how 
I  had  been  given  ore  which  had  been  brought 
in  from  the  mine  to  break  up,  and  told  to  sort 
it,  laying  aside  only  the  richest  pieces  to  be 
put  in  casks  to  send  to  the  King  of  Spain  ;  and 
the  baser  portions  were  thrown  out,  so  that 
this  city  of  San  Thome  was  literally  paved 
with  gold,  though  in  small  proportion  to  the 
stone.  Seeing  this  waste,  I  had  asked  why  the 
ore  was  not  crushed  and  the  precious  metal 
separated  from  the  rock.  Father  Greenway 
replied  that  formerly  they  had  so  purified  the 
ore  by  means  of  mercury,  but  the  supply  which 
they  had  brought  with  them  from  Spain  had 
been  exhausted,  and,  moreover,  that  even  if 
they  had  more,  it  would  profit  them  nothing, 
for  their  refiner  had  been  slain  at  our  onslaught, 
and  there  was  no  one  in  the  colony  who  under- 
stood the  entire  process;  so  that,  unless  an 
alchemist  should  be  sent  them  out  of  Spain, 
with  a  shipload  of  quicksilver,  they  could  but 


306  PATIENCE. 

send  the  ore  in  its  crude  state.  I  therefore  be- 
sought Philippa  to  say  to  the  Governor  that  in 
my  experiments  with  Sir  Walter  he  had  taught 
me  metallurgy,  and  that  if  I  could  have  a  room 
for  a  laboratory,  and  an  Indian  to  go  and  come 
as  my  servant,  I  could  render  him  the  refined 
gold. 

:  Philippa  did  so  well  that  I  was  allowed 
to  make  good  my  boast,  for  Sir  Walter 
had  taught  me  how  to  extract  mercury  from 
its  sulphide  cinnabar,  by  heating  the  latter 
in  a  furnace,  and  I  had  noticed  that  the 
Indians  who  came  to  trade  had  their  faces 
painted  with  vermilion,  which  is  only  cinnabar 
ground  fine.  Therefore,  my  task  was  an  easy 
one,  for  the  Governor  gave  me  glass  beads, 
with  permission  for  my  servant  to  truck  with 
them  for  Avhat  commodities  I  wished  with  the 
savages,  though  I  told  him  not  what  I  needed, 
for  I  kept  my  method  of  obtaining  the  mercury 
a  secret.  When  I  had  succeeded  in  a  small 
way  at  San  Thome,  Governor  Acuna  refused  to 
allow  the  captain  to  take  me  to  Spain,  but  sent 
me  to  the  mines,  over  which  he  made  me  super- 
intendent, with  not  one  slave  alone,  but  many 
to  do  my  bidding. 

"  And  here  my  heart  was  like  to  break  at  the 
thought  that  this  was  the  very  mine  which  my 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.       307 

dear  master,  Sir  Walter,  had  undergone  so 
many  hardships  to  secure  for  England ;  yea, 
whose  very  existence,  as  I  am  now  told,  was 
discredited,  so  that  he  was  slain  for  lack  of 
testimony  which,  could  I  but  have  appeared 
before  King  James,  might  have  saved  his  life. 
I  found  at  the  mine  a  mill,  exactly  resembling 
those  we  use  in  England  for  grinding  apples, 
wherein  a  millstone  set  on  edge  was  made  to 
turn  in  a  circular  channel.  Here  the  ore  was 
crushed,  and  formerly  quicksilver,  which  of  all 
bodies  has  the  greatest  attraction  to  gold,  was 
added.  The  gold  immediately  left  its  native 
rock  and  flew  to  its  affinity,  even  as  a  maid 
leaveth  father  and  mother  to  cleave  to  her  be- 
loved :  such  sense  of  love  have  even  the  dull 
clods  of  earth. 

"  Everything  spake  to  me  of  love,  and  I  was  in 
a  great  admiration  when  I  discovered  it  to  be 
the  universal  law  of  nature,  so  that  not  man 
alone,  nor  the  animals  and  birds  and  every  living 
thing,  but  even  the  flowers — yea,  and  the  very 
insensate  earth  obeyed  its  irresistible  instincts. 
I  was  ever  observing  the  development  of  this 
primal  passion  as  I  continued  my  work,  and  how 
a  stronger  affection  would  cause  other  attrac- 
tions to  have  no  power — and  sometimes  there 
was  disloyalty  in  ores  as  in  the  hearts  of  base 


308  PATIENCE. 

men.  I  constructed  a  furnace  in  which  I  burned 
the  beautiful  rose-colored  crystals  of  cinnabar 
which  the  Indians  brought  me,  thus  dissipating 
the  sulphur  and  collecting  the  mercury  in  a 
condensing  chamber  for  use  in  releasing  the 

O  O 

gold  from  the  crushed  ore.  After  the  mercury 
had  united  with  the  gold,  forming  an  amal- 
gam, I  let  water  into  the  channel  of  the  great 
mill-wheel,  which  washed  away  the  lighter  soil 
through  a  sieve  at  one  side,  and  I  then  collected 
and  heated  the  amalgam,  and  the  volatile 
mercury  fled  away  in  fumes.  This  was  to  me 
an  allegory,  for  I  saw  how  much  better  was  the 
love  of  man,  and  even  of  an  evil  heart  like 
mine,  than  this  fickle  passion  of  the  metals,  for 
this  light-of-love  Mercury  had  for  the  second 
time  allowed  himself  to  be  divorced  from  a 
loving  partner;  for  having  left  Sulphur,  his 
wedded  wife  by  that  first  union  in  the  Cinnabar, 
he  had  enticed  Gold  to  desert  her  parents,  the 
steadfast  Rocks,  and  be  married  to  him  in  the 
scandalous  amalgamatic  alliance,  and  then  had 
scrupled  not  at  the  first  fiery  touch  of  trial  to 
flee  lightly  away. 

"  And  ever  I  was  glad  at  heart  as  I  bent  over 
my  crucibles,  for  I  knew  that  my  Heart  of  Gold 
waited  for  me,  and  that  we  could  never  be 
drawn  from  our  allegiance  to  one  another. 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      309 

"  I  gathered  many  ingots  and  bars  of  gold  in 
the  three  years  that  I  was  superintendent  of  the 
mine ;  but  it  irked  me  to  send  them  down  to 
San  Thome  by  the  messengers  which  Governor 
Acuna  sent  for  them ;  and  more  than  I  sent  I 
buried  in  great  treasure  vaults,  hoping  some  day 
to  lead  my  master  Sir  Walter  thither  and 
deliver  them  up  to  him.  I  was  helped  in  this 
business  by  the  Indian  Harry,  who  had  lived  in 
England,  for  he  came  and  worked  for  me,  and 
he  was  as  devoted  to  Raleigh  as  I.  He  hated 
the  Spaniards,  for  the  soldiers  had  continued 
their  marauding  and  had  massacred  unoffending 
Indians,  stealing  their  cocoa  and  their  other 
goods,  burning  their  villages,  and  carrying  away 
their  maidens. 

"  If  Sir  "Walter  could  have  come  at  this  time 
with  his  fleet  the  Indians  would  have  risen,  and 
have  slain  the  Spaniards  and  have  welcomed 
him  as  king.  It  was  this  which  Harry  hoped 
for,  and  he  went  about  attending  their  councils 
and  knew  that  the  fire  smoldered. 

"  But  the  Spaniards  knew  it  not.  They  rebuilt 
their  city,  and  ships  came  from  Spain  bringing 
the  conveniences  of  life,  and  they  sent  back 
gold,  and  their  desire  to  return  to  their  native 
country  died  out  in  fancied  security. 

"  Father  Green  way  came  to  me  at  the  mines, 


310  PATIENCE. 

and  talked  with  the  Indians,  for  he  had  learned 
something  of  their  language  and  he  found 
Harry  useful  to  interpret.  When  he  found  that 
they  had  a  temple  in  the  woods  where  they  had 
set  up  an  ugly  idol,  before  which  they  spread 
offerings  of  game  and  flowers,  he  did  not  reprove 
them,  but  told  them  that  Christians  also  made 
images  to  represent  their  God,  and  he  hung  over 
the  idol  a  large  ivory  crucifix  which  they 
regarded  with  great  admiration.  He  told  them 
the  story  of  Christ's  passion  in  words  so  adapted 
to  their  ignorance  that  I  marveled  at  his  tact. 
The  Indians  accepted  it  with  perfect  confidence, 
one  only  objecting  that  a  God  should  allow 
himself  to  be  so  shamefully  treated.  Then 
Father  Greenway  explained  that  Christ  came  to 
teach  us  to  suffer,  and  called  to  mind  how  they 
esteemed  those  of  their  warriors  the  most  God- 
like, who  could  best  endure  the  tortures  of  their 
enemies.  By  these  means  he  began  to  acquire 
an  influence  over  them,  and  he  taught  them  to 
repeat  short  Latin  prayers,  and  to  cross  them- 
selves. He  gave  such  of  them  as  learned  the 
Ave  Maria  and  Pater  Noster  a  rosary  to  repeat 
them  by,  which  greatly  pleased  them.  He 
baptized  many  of  them,  all  indeed  that  would 
submit  themselves  to  this  rite,  for  he  believed 
that  so  their  souls  would  be  saved.  We  had 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      311 

many  conversations  together ;  and  seeing  him 
display  such  earnestness  as  a  true  Christian,  I 
asked  him  how  he  could  reconcile  it  to  his  con- 
science not  to  have  informed  upon  the  con- 
spirators in  the  Gunpowder  Plot.  He  replied 
with  many  specious  arguments  and  excuses,  the 
principal  one  being  that  the  lives  of  men  were 
of  no  account,  provided  the  true  church  (which 
for  him  was  the  Roman)  was  advanced.  '  As 
willingly,'  he  said, '  in  its  cause  would  I  lay  down 
mine  own  life — for  what  is  the  life  of  one  man 
or  of  an  entire  generation  of  men,  but  to  have 
the  world  better  for  its  duration  or  its  dis- 
appearance ?  We  make  more  mistakes  when 
we  endeavor  to  hinder  the  march  of  events. 
Witness  my  sin  in  endeavoring  to  save  the  life 
of  Raleigh,  and  perchance  thy  life  also.  Ye 
have  both  committed  much  havoc  in  this  peace- 
ful community  in  the  taking  of  San  Thome, 
and  I  know  not  how  much  more  I  may  be 
responsible  for,  or  that  in  rescuing  thee  I  may 
not  have  warmed  a  viper  in  my  bosom.' 

"  '  I  thought  thou  hadst  been  my  friend,'  I 
replied,  '  but  if  this  is  thy  feeling  toward  me,  I 
marvel  indeed  that  thou  didst  not  strike  me 
down  instead  of  first  sparing  my  life  and  then 
following  me  with  such  continual  kindness.' 

"  His  face  softened.     '  The  heart  is  deceitful,' 


312  PATIENCE. 

he  said,  '  and  the  affections  are  not  to  be 
trusted,  but  I  have  ever  been  drawn  to  thee, 
my  son,  and  I  still  believe  of  thee  what  I  once 
hoped  for  Raleigh,  that  God  will  make  thee  an 
instrument  for  the  glory  of  his  Church.  Hast 
thou  the  breviary  which  I  gave  thee  at  Clopton 
House  ? ' 

"When  I  showed  it  to  him  he  said:  'I  will 
write  another  prayer  suitable  for  a  captive  on 
the  fly-leaf.  It  is  one  that  the  martyred  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots  composed  before  her  death.' 

"  I  copy  it  as  he  wrote  it : 

"  '  O  Domine  Jesu !  speravi  in  te 
O  care,  mi  Jesu !  nuiic  libera  me 
In  dura  catena, 
In  misera  paena, 

Desidero  te, 
Langueudo, 
Gemendo, 
Et  genu  flectendo, 

Adoro, 

Imploro, 

Ut  liberes  me! 

"  I  have  used  this  prayer  often,  sweet  Patience, 
when  words  failed  my  burdened  heart,  for  I  see 
no  harm  in  it ;  and  when  I  tell  thee  how 
Father  Greenway  met  his  death,  thou  wilt 
acknowledge  that  though  terribly  deluded  he 
had  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  God  pardon 
him  and  open  the  minds  of  men  to  the  knowl- 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      313 

edge  that  they  cannot  do  him  service  by  slay- 
ing each  other. 

"  Governor  Acuna  came  sometimes  to  the 
mines  and  treated  me  with  courtesy,  and  once 
he  took  me  to  San  Thome  and  lodged  me  at  his 
house  in  different  guise  from  when  as  a  captive 
I  had  broken  stone  upon  the  street.  There  I 
learned  of  the  death  of  my  dear  master,  and 
that  the  ship  from  Spain  had  brought  news 
that  peace  between  James  and  Philip  had  been 
purchased  at  this  price,  and  that  there  was  even 
a  likelihood  that  our  Prince  Charles  would 
marry  the  Infanta.  So  there  were  no  orders  for 
the  execution  or  torture  of  English  prisoners  and 
no  requisition  that  I  should  be  sent  into  Spain. 
But  when  I  asked  for  my  liberty,  Governor 
Acuna  said  that  was  another  matter,  and  that  I 
had  proved  myself  too  useful  to  be  spared. 
Later  Philippa  took  me  aside  into  the  garden, 
and  told  me  of  a  scheme  she  had  to  have  me 
exchanged  for  my  brother  Love,  and  that  she 
had  already  taken  steps  in  the  matter.  She 
had  written  him  a  letter  telling  him  of  my 
whereabouts  and  begging  him  to  come  to 
Guiana,  promising  that  if  he  did  so,  I  should 
be  released;  but  she  had  very  shrewdly  neg- 
lected to  say  that  he  would  be  detained  in  my 
place.  This  letter  she  had  sent  back  by  the 


314  PATIENCE. 

Spanish  ship  to  Spain  (but  addressed  to  Lon- 
don in  care  of  Lord  Rich,  of  whom  she  had 
heard  rne  speak),  and  as  there  was  now  com- 
munication between  Spain  and  England,  she 
had  good  hope  that  it  would  reach  him.  She 
looked  very  winsome  as  she  said  this.  Stand- 
ing beneath  a  great  tree-heliotrope,  and  in  her 
embarrassment  pulling  down  a  branch  of  blos- 
soms to  partly  hide  her  face  ;  but  I  was  sore 
angered  to  think  that  she  endeavored  to  bring 
my  brother  out  to  this  wilderness.  She  saw 
the  displeasure  in  my  face,  and  she  spoke  very 
rapidly,  striving  to  forestall  it.  '  Be  not  angry 
with  me,  Wrestling,'  she  said,  '  for  it  is  I  who 
have  saved  your  life  and  have  secured  for  you 
the  favor  of  the  Governor.  I  know  that  you 
are  heartsick  to  go  back  to  England  and  to 
your  sweetheart ;  but  Governor  Acuiia  has  not 
the  power  to  release  a  prisoner  of  war,  for  your 
name  is  still  upon  the  report  which  the  captain 
took  to  Spain,  neither  would  he  think  that  he 
could  spare  you  from  the  mines.  But  if  your 
brother  came  you  could  teach  him  all  that  you 
know  of  metals,  and  he  could  take  your  place. 
He  would  soon  be  rich  here,  and  he  shall  be  a 
willing  captive,  I  promise  you ;  while  you, 
Wrestling,  shall  be  free  I ' 

"  Then  the  passion  that  was  in  me  flamed  out ; 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      315 

and  I  told  her  that  I  well  knew  that  she  did 
this,  not  from  any  kindness  toward  me,  but  for 
love  of  my  brother,  but  that  it  was  a  false  love 
that  would  entice  him  to  an  exile  and  a  cap- 
tivity, from  whence  at  any  turn  of  international 
politics  he  might  be  ordered  to  his  death ;  and, 
moreover,  that  I  was  not  willing  to  purchase 
liberty  at  such  a  price,  and  that  my  brother  was 
not  for  such  as  she,  for  I  would  foil  her.  With 
that  she  suddenly  let  go  of  the  branch  with 
which  she  toyed,  and  it,  with  the  force  of  its 
rebound,  struck  me  sharply  across  the  face. 
Stung  by  the  indignity  as  much  as  by  the  pain, 
for  I  thought  she  did  it  of  a  purpose,  I  called 
her  '  Serpent.'  Then  she  turned  upon  me  with 
flashing  eyes,  magnificent  in  her  anger.  l  Yea, 
verily,'  she  hissed,  '  and  thou  shalt  know  that 
serpents  can  sting !  This  insult  can  be  wiped 
out  only  by  blood  ! ' 

"  I  gave  no  heed  to  her  anger,  for  it  seemed  to 
me  but  a  child's  pettishness ;  but  my  heart  was 
disturbed  for  my  brother,  for  I  well  knew  the 
disinterestedness  of  that  loyal  heart.  I  immedi- 
ately wrote  him  into  Ley  den,  forbidding  that 
he  should  come  out  on  any  such  fool's  errand  ; 
but  I  have  since  learned  from  George  Sandys 
that  even  if  my  letter  went  to  Holland,  Love 
could  not  have  received  it,  for  he  had  left  the 


316  PATIENCE. 

country.  I  trust  that  the  same  fortune  fol- 
lowed Philippa's  letter;  or  if  my  brother 
received  it,  that  he  found  no  means  of  voyaging 
to  Guiana. 

"  Having  no  longer  any  hope  that  my  master 
would  come  out  to  this  country,  I  was  all  the 
more  resolved  to  escape.  I  knew  that  if  I 
allowed  myself  to  be  sent  back  to  the  mines, 
where  I  was  guarded  by  soldiers,  I  would  have 
no  opportunity  to  do  so,  and  I  attempted  to 
buy  a  canoe  of  an  Indian,  whereby  I  might 
make  my  way  to  the  coast.  But  Philippa,  sus- 
pecting my  design  (for  the  Indian  was  seen  by 
her  secreting  the  canoe  at  the  foot  of  the  gar- 
den), reported  the  thing  to  the  Governor,  and  I 
was  returned  to  the  mines  more  closely  watched 
than  ever.  I  could  no  longer  secrete  gold, 
and  I  might  have  still  remained  in  that  savage 
country,  but  that  about  a  year  after  this  the 
disaffection  of  the  Indians  came  to  a  head, 
owing  to  the  abominable  atrocities  of  the 
Spanish  soldiers;  and  a  young  chief  arose  of 
great  spirit  and  ability,  who  swore  to  rid  the 
entire  continent  of  America  of  the  white  man. 
He  went  about  collecting  bands  of  armed 
Indians,  making  speeches  at  council  fires,  insti- 
tuting war-dances,  and  sending  messages  to 
dispersed  tribes ;  and  doing  all  this  so  secretly, 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      317 

that,  but  for  Harry,  his  designs  would  not  have 
been  known.  But  Harry  revealed  to  us  that 
there  was  to  be  a  general  massacre,  and  that  he 
had  hidden  horses  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
mine,  so  that,  if  we  set  out  at  once,  we  might 
escape  to  San  Thome  and  warn  the  Governor. 
Knowing  that  Harry  would  not  have  reported 
this  on  slight  reason,  I  acted  upon  his  advice 
with  the  Spanish  soldiers  which  were  my  guard. 
But  Father  Greenway  would  not  go  with  us,  for 
he  hoped  by  remaining  to  restrain  his  converts. 
"  There  was  in  the  vaults  of  my  house  a  con- 
siderable store  of  gold,  which  we  could  not  take 
with  us,  and  some  ammunition  belonging  to  the 
soldiers,  which  they  were  anxious  should  not 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  Father 
Greenway  therefore  established  himself  in  my 
room,  but  though  he  bolted  the  door  he  made 
no  attempt  to  defend  himself,  when,  as  soon  as 
our  departure  was  known,  the  house  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  Indians.  Harry  had  remained 
behind  to  see  what  would  happen,  and  if  pos- 
sible to  help  Father  Greenway.  When  the 
Indians  demanded  entrance  he  came  boldly  out 
upon  the  balcony  of  an  upper  window  and  asked 
them  what  they  would  have.  Then  their  leader 
taunted  him  with  his  former  teachings,  saying 
they  had  come  to  honor  him  as  he  had  told 


318  PATIENCE. 

them  his  God  had  been  honored,  with  torture, 
and  to  prove  whether  he  had  learned  the  lessons 
of  endurance  of  suffering,  which  he  had  come 
to  teach. 

"  With  that  Father  Green  way  retreated  into 
the  house,  closing  the  window  after  him,  but 
they  could  hear  him  within  chanting  and  pray- 
ing. Then  were  they  filled  with  fury,  and  they 
made  fires  against  the  four  corners  of  the  house, 
and  Harry,  who  had  climbed  a  tree  at  a  little 
distance,  saw  through  a  window  that  the  father 
descended  to  the  ground  floor  and  opening 
some  kegs,  placed  himself  in  their  midst,  hold- 
ing aloft  his  crucifix.  Whether  it  were  that  at 
that  hour  of  his  death  he  wished  to  make  atone- 
ment for  his  participation  in  that  fearful  crime, 
by  himself  suffering  the  same  sort  of  end  which 
was  planned  to  have  been  brought  upon  others, 
or  whether  it  were  but  the  natural  preference 
for  a  speedy  death  over  torture,  I  know  not ; 
but  as  the  tongues  of  flame  shot  in  they  were 
led  by  long  trails  of  scattered  gunpowder 
straight  to  the  kegs  which  the  soldiers  had  left, 
and  in  one  blinding  flash  and  thunderous  report 
the  soul  of  Father  Green  way  went  forth  to  meet 
his  Maker.  The  Indians  fled  back,  smitten 
with  fear,  and  many  of  them  injured  by  the 
flying  splinters. 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      319 

"Later  they  returned  arid  rioted  with  his 
mangled  body.  Far  distant  from  the  ruins 
Harry  found  his  right  hand,  and  neither  the 
force  of  the  explosion  nor  its  riving  from  his 
arm  had  been  able  to  loosen  its  grasp,  for  it  still 
held  the  crucifix.  Harry  wrapped  this  ghastly 
relic  carefully  in  leaves,  and  carrying  it  in  his 
bosom  brought  it  into  San  Thome,  where  we 
buried  it  before  the  altar  of  the  church,  in  the 
grave  of  young  Walter  Raleigh. 

"Immediately  after  that  all  of  the  Indians 
broke  out  in  open  war,  revenging  their  old 
injuries  at  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  killing 
and  burning  throughout  the  entire  country  and 
holding  San  Thome  in  a  state  of  siege.  None 
dared  to  venture  outside  the  stockades,  and 
guards  were  posted  at  night.  They  made 
several  attacks,  and  wounded  and  killed  many 
with  showers  of  arrows,  but  they  could  not  take 
the  city.  No  boats  dared  to  descend  the  river, 
for  the  banks  were  lined  with  hostiles,  and 
when  a  ship  anchored  at  the  mouth  and  sent  up 
its  barges  the  crew  was  set  upon,  many  killed, 
and  the  rest  driven  back.  But  they  made 
another  attempt  more  successfully,  for  some 
reached  the  town,  where  famine  had  begun  to 
render  the  colonists  desperate.  After  waiting 
for  some  time  one  dark  night  they  abandoned  the 


320  PATIENCE. 

town,  and  all  came  down  the  river,  not  rowing 
for  fear  that  the  noise  would  attract  the  savages, 
but  floating  with  the  current  until  daybreak, 
when  they  were  forced  to  run  the  gantlet  of 
the  Indians  posted  along  the  lower  banks.  A 
remnant  only  reached  the  ship;  Philippa  was 
safe,  but  I  was  wounded  in  shielding  her. 
Harry  swam  to  the  shore,  where  there  chanced 
to  be  no  guard,  and  returned  with  some  plant 
which  he  bound  upon  my  arm  and  stanched 
its  bleeding. 

"  A  common  danger  softened  Philippa's  anger, 
so  that  when  she  saw  my  blood  to  flow  in  her 
defense,  she  cried  out  that  there  was  no  longer 
any  feud  between  us,  for  she  had  declared  at 
the  first  that  it  should  be  washed  away  in  my 
blood.  Thus  we  got  safely  to  the  ship  which 
was  bound  by  way  of  the  Azores  to  Spain. 

"  But  now  the  Spaniards  were  by  no  means  at 
the  end  of  their  troubles,  for,  falling  in  with  a 
hurricane  when  they  were  more  than  halfway 
to  the  Azores,  they  were  driven  far  west  of 
their  course  and  were  shipwrecked  on  the  Ber- 
mudas or  Isles  of  Devils.  Here  we  all  got  safe 
to  land,  and  found  an  English  colony  which 
entertained  us,  but  the  Governor,  Nathaniel 
Butler,  was  exceedingly  harsh  to  the  Spaniards, 
and  learning  that  they  had  kegs  of  gold  on 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      321 

board  the  ship,  he  caused  the  wreckers  to  bring 
all  the  cargo  to  him,  nor  would  he  allow  the 
ship  to  be  mended  so  that  they  could  continue 
their  voyage  until  they  had  signed  an  agree- 
ment to  send  back  a  great  ransom.  So  at  last 
he  sent  them  away,  but  so  shortly  provisioned 
that  they  could  only  make  for  Cuba,  and  I  saw 
Philippa  no  more. 

"  But  what  was  bad  fortune  for  the  Spaniards 
was  good  for  me,  for  now  I  was  once  more  with 
mine  own  countrymen.  After  the  space  of 
some  months  also  Governor  Butler  made  a 
voyage  to  Virginia  and  took  Harry  and  me  with 
him.  I  was  exceeding  glad  when  he  did  this, 
for  I  had  hopes  from  what  I  had  learned  had 
transpired  in  England  that  I  might  find  my 
people  in  Virginia,  yea,  and  even  thee,  my  best 
beloved. 

"  Though  I  was  cruelly  disappointed  in  this 
expectation,  yet  I  count  myself  happy,  for  surely 
there  will  arise  some  opportunity  whereby  I 
may  soon  go  to  thee  by  means  of  some  Dutch 
trader  which  will  take  me  as  far  as  the  settle- 
ments on  the  Hudson.  In  the  meantime  I 
would  have  my  friends  to  know  that  I  have 
been  most  hospitably  cared  for  by  my  old 
friend  George  Sandys,  whom  I  find  established 
here  upon  a  plantation  near  the  city  of  Henri- 


322  PATIENCE. 

cus,  named  for  our  beloved  Prince  Henry.  It 
is  defended  by  palisades  and  by  the  forts  Charity 
and  Patience.  When  I  heard  that  name  I  could 
hardly  contain  myself,  and  George  Sandys,  see- 
ing my  pleasure,  said  'Yea,  you  have  rightly 
guessed  ;  I  named  it  so  for  her — such  influence 
has  she  had  upon  my  life.'  And  when  I  carped 
at  him,  'And  why,  George,  should  you  name 
a  fort  for  a  gentle  woman  ? '  he  made  answer, 
'  Because  the  very  thought  of  her,  so  strong 
and  trusty  and  brave,  has  been  to  me  as  a  tower, 
to  the  which  when  doubts  and  temptations 
have  assailed  I  could  run  and  be  safe.' 

"If  such  is  the  influence  of  my  sweet  Patience 
on  one  who  knew  her  but  slightly,  it  can  well 
be  understood  how  that  the  love  I  bear  her 
has  heartened  me  to  endure  and  to  venture  all 
things  that  I  may  win  to  her,  yea,  and  in  God's 
own  time  and  place  I  shall  find  her. 

"  Ever  her  and  your  faithful  pilgrim, 

"  WRESTLING." 

III. 

"POSTSCKIPT    TO    MY    FATHER    AND    MOTHER. 

"  I  cannot,  honored  and  loved  parents,  close 
this  already  too  long  letter  without  addressing 
some  message  to  you  in  particular,  the  more 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.       323 

especially  as  I  have  been  impressed  with  the 
conviction  since  I  have  been  in  Virginia  that 
my  father  would  greatly  admire  the  state  of 
affairs  that  I  find  here.  Surely  it  would  also 
have  delighted  my  poor  master,  Sir  Walter,  if 
he  could  have  known  before  he  died  to  what 
a  pitch  of  prosperity  his  beloved  and  long- 
suffering  colony  of  Virginia  would  win  at  last. 
Often  he  has  told  me  how  the  loss  of  those  first 
settlers,  whose  fate  was  never  known,  weighed 
upon  his  heart,  and  what  sums  he  had  expended 
and  desperate  efforts  made  to  come  to  their 
relief.  Sad  it  is  that  when  he  died  he  could 
see  no  fruit  of  his  labor  for  this  the  dearest 
desire  of  his  heart.  Surely  one  man  shall  plant 
and  another  water,  and  to  still  another  shall  it  be 
given  to  reap  the  increase.  Sir  Edwin  Sandys 
hath  faithfully  watered,  and  the  harvest  is 
growing  apace. 

"  Virginia  hath  now  the  city  of  Jamestown, 
and  ten  other  boroughs,  or  settlements,  each 
having  the  right  to  send  two  burgesses  as 
representatives  to  the  Assembly  at  Jamestown. 
And  this  Assembly  doth  govern  the  colony,  so 
that  we  have  here  a  free  and  independent  state. 
For  though  the  Governor  is  appointed  in  Eng- 
land, yet  can  he  do  nothing  contrary  to  the 
popular  voice ;  for  by  their  charter  no  orders 


324  PATIENCE. 

of  court  shall  bind  the  said  colony  unless  they 
be  ratified  by  the  general  assemblies. 

"George  Sandys  told  me  that  it  was  his 
brother  Sir  Edwin  who  had  secured  this  boon 
in  the  Virginia  Company  for  the  colony,  and  it 
is  for  this  that  King  James  and  the  court  party 
hate  him  so  bitterly. 

"There  are  now  upward  of  two  thousand 
settlers  in  the  eleven  boroughs,  which  are 
called  as  follows:  James  City,  or  Jamestown 
(and  though  the  capital  is  named  for  the  King, 
it  is  aiy  that  he  hath),  Charles  City  and  Hen- 
ricus  (for  the  two  Princes),  Hampton  (for 
the  Earl  of  Southampton),  Martin-Brandon, 
Smythe's  Hundred,  Martin's  Hundred,  Argall's 
Gift,  Lawne's  and  Ward's  Plantations  and 
Flowerdieu  Hundred.  Some  of  these  bur- 
oughs  are  not  cities  or  even  towns,  but 
scattered  plantations  grouped  together  so  that 
they  could  furnish  at  need  one  hundred  fight- 
ing men.  The  means  of  traveling  is,  as  in 
Guiana,  chiefly  by  boat,  each  planter  possessing 
rowboats  and  barges,  and  indentured  or  negro 
slaves.  The  city  of  Henricus,  whence  I  now 
write,  hath  three  streets,  storehouses,  and  a 
church.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  me  even  to  hear 
mine  English  tongue,  to  see  about  me  English 
faces  and  customs,  to  walk  to  the  house  of  God 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.       325 

on  the  Sabbath,  and  to  listen  to  the  good  Mr. 
"Whitaker,  who  preaches  in  the  forenoon,  cate- 
chises in  the  afternoon,  and  exercises  at  the 
Governor's  house  in  the  evening.  Here  at  Hen- 
ricus,  too,  is  a  university  established  for  the 
Indians  whose  principal  lack  at  present  is  stu- 
dents, for  Pocahontas,  who  lived  here  with  her 
husband  Rolfe,  and  who  might  have  effected 
much  in  inducing  the  Indian  youth  to  adopt 
our  manners,  went  hence  to  England,  and  died 
there.  George  Sandys  saw  her  at  court  before 
he  came  out,  where,  he  tells  me,  she  cut  as  pretty 
a  figure  as  many  of  the  great  ladies ;  so  that 
la  belle  sauvage  was  the  reigning  toast,  and 
there  were  many  taverns  named  for  her  through- 1 
out  England.  She  was  so  handsome  that  the 
painters  begged  to  paint  her  portrait,  and  the 
court  ladies  were  like  to  die  of  envy,  and  so 
modest  and  gentle  that  she  won  all  hearts. 

"  When  I  asked  Sandys  if  he  had  yet  found 
his  princess,  he  declared  that  he  had  not, 
though  Pocahontas  hath  left  a  sister,  Cleopatre, 
who  is  the  belle  of  all  the  country  round,  and 
hath  been  besought  in  marriage  by  the  Gov- 
ernor. George  said  that  the  popularity  of  the 
Indian  girls  was  not  altogether  owing  to 
scarcity  of  English  maids;  for  his  brother  had 
arranged  that  spinsters  of  good  character  should 


326  PATIENCE. 

be  sent  out  by  the  Virginia  Company,  and  suit- 
ably maintained  until  they  obtained  husbands. 
Any  settler  of  good  character  and  condition, 
could  obtain  a  wife  by  paying  one  hundred 
pounds  of  tobacco  to  the  company  for  her  pas- 
sage. I  saw  the  arrival  of  sixty  of  these  maids 
at  Jamestown,  and  the  marriage  of  some  of 
them,  which  was  not  slavery,  but  entered  into 
of  their  own  free  choice ;  none  could  be  com- 
pelled, and  certain  gallants  with  full  purses 
met  with  flat  refusals.  Sandys  said  that  there 
had  been  known  coquettes  among  them  who 
lived  long  at  the  company's  expense,  balancing 
between  this  and  that,  and  even  engaging  them- 
selves to  two  before  they  could  decide.  And 
this  had  grown  to  be  so  great  an  evil  that  Mr. 
Whitaker  read  a  notice  of  the  Governor's  in 
church,  whereby  all  women  were  notified  that 
they  were  forbidden  to  contract  themselves  to 
two  several  men  at  once  ;  '  for  this  offense  has 
caused  great  disquiet  between  the  planters  and 
no  small  trouble  to  the  government.'  They 
were  furthermore  informed  that  offenders  must 
undergo  corporal  correction  at  the  whipping- 
post and  pillory,  or  be  punished  by  a  fine 
according  to  the  quality  of  the  person  offend- 
ing. 

"  Mr.  Whitaker  also  read  another  decree  more 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.       327 

directly  affecting  himself,  for  it  forbid  any  man 
to  dispose  of  his  tobacco  until  the  minister  was 
satisfied — that  is,  had  received  his  salary.  It 
did  my  heart  good  to  see  that  these  orders  were 
not  the  arbitrary  tyranny  of  one  man,  but  con- 
firmed by  the  burgesses ;  and  that  here  is 
realized  that  dream  of  representative  govern- 
ment, which  I  have  so  often  heard  thee,  my 
father,  and  thy  friends  discuss  at  our  home  at 
Scrooby.  If  my  dearest  Patience  were  but 
here,  I  could  willingly  settle  on  one  of  these 
plantations  and  divide  my  time,  like  George, 
between  my  books  and  the  care  of  my  estate. 
Even  as  his  friend  Dryden  hath  written  him : 

"  'Where  nature  hath  in  store 
Fowl,  venison  and  fish; 

And  the  fruitfull'st  soil, 

Without  your  toil, 
Three  harvests  more, 
All  greater  than  your  wish. 

*' '  And  as  there  plenty  grows 
Of  laurel  everywhere, 
Apollo's  sacred  tree. 
You  it  may  see 
A  poet's  brows 
To  crown,  that  may  sing  there. 

"  '  Then  cheerfully  to  sea 
Success  you  still  entice, 

To  get  the  pearl  and  gold, 

And  ours  to  hold 
Virginia, 
Earth's  only  paradise  I ' " 


328  PATIENCE. 

"  But  Virginia  could  be  no  paradise  for  me 
without  those  I  love,  God  speed  me  to  them ! 
The  Prosperous  sails ;  I  have  no  time  for  further 
farewell,  but  neither  distance  nor  any  other 
obstacle  shall  keep  from  you  much  longer 

"  Your  own, 

"  WBESTLINGK" 

These  letters  only  brought  fresh  grief  to 
good  Elder  Brewster  and  his  wife ;  and  they 
looked  at  Patience  with  the  deepest  pity,  as 
they  saw  that  she  could  not  realize  that  this 
was  the  last  time  that  she  or  they  would  hear 
from  the  brave  boy. 

Squanto  came  back  and  reported  that  the 
Narragan  setts  were  greatly  excited  by  the  news 
which  had  been  brought  to  them,  through  the 
intervening  tribes,  from  Virginia,  that  they  were 
holding  war-dances  and  councils,  and  would 
doubtless  soon  swoop  down  in  one  desperate 
effort  to  exterminate  the  white  man.  The  Nar- 
ragansetts  had  one  white  prisoner  whom  they 
had  taken  not  far  from  the  Dutch  settlement  of 
Manhattan,  and  they  were  reserving  him  for 
torture,  to  whet  their  spirits  for  cruelty,  if  their 
council  should  decide  to  go  on  the  warpath. 

Squanto  had  crept  stealthily  near  him  under 
cover  of  the  night ;  but  the  unfortunate  wretch 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.       329 

was  too  weak  to  talk,  even  if  he  had  dared  to 
do  so.  But  Squanto  had  stolen  some  keepsakes 
which  had  been  taken  from  his  breast,  which 
the  Narragansetts  regarded  as  talismans ;  and 
these  he  now  laid  before  the  Pilgrim  leaders. 
The  objects  were  a  Roman  Catholic  breviary 
and  part  of  a  rosary,  from  which  they  inferred 
that  the  wretched  man  was  a  priest,  and  find- 
ing the  name  of  Father  Greenway  on  the  fly- 
leaf of  the  breviary,  and  remembering  how  he 
had  escaped  from  the  retribution  which  fol- 
lowed the  Gunpowder  Plot,  they  had  no  doubt 
that  divine  justice  had  overtaken  him  in  these 
wilds,  and  that  they  ought  to  leave  him  to  his 
fate.  Elder  Brewster  was  not  present  at  the 
council,  or  he  could  have  told  them  of  the 
death  of  Father  Greenway ;  only  the  captain 
voted  for  venturing  out  for  the  rescue  of  the 
captive,  and  it  was  remembered  when  he  did 
so  that  the  Stamlishes  of  Duxbury  Hall  in 
Lancashire  were  Catholics. 

But  when  Squanto  came  to  the  little  school- 
house  and  told  Patience  how  he  had  seen 
Harry's  signal  carved  upon  some  trees  and 
believed  that  he  was  somewhere  in  the  Nar- 
ragansett  country,  and  described  the  ruby  and 
crystal  beads  of  the  rosary  which  he  had  taken 
from  the  captive  and  given  to  the  council,  she 


330  PATIENCE. 

started  up  like  one  possessed  and  ran  to  Miles 
Standisb,  telling  him  all  of  Wrestling's  relations 
with  the  Jesuit  and  how  the  divided  rosary  was 
their  pledge  of  betrothal. 

He  heard  her  with  close  attention,  and  then 
took  from  his  desk  the  broken  rosary  which 
the  council  had  allowed  him  to  carry  away. 
Silently  Patience  drew  from  her  breast  her 
portion,  and  the  perfect  rosary  of  blood  and 
tears  lay  before  them. 

Without  waiting  to  ask  permission  of  the 
council,  the  little  captain  strode  to  the  door,  and 
sounded  the  call  on  his  trumpet  which  brought 
the  lusty  jroung  men  of  the  Fortune  from  the 
fields.  Then  girding  on  his  armor  and  bidding 
Squanto  show  the  way,  he  led  his  soldiers  to 
the  land  of  the  Narragansetts. 

He  was  not  too  late,  and  when  the  party 
returned  with  Wrestling  and  the  faithful 
Indian  Harry,  and  they  saw  Patience  waiting 
on  Lookout  Hill,  Miles  Standish  led  her  lover 
to  her,  saying  reverently :  "  Those  whom  God 
hath  joined  together  let  not  man  put  asunder." 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  cottage  which 
Love  had  built  became  a  home  (though  Patience 
still  found  time  to  hold  within  it  her  "dame's 
school "),  and  to  it  each  of  the  settlers  brought 
his  or  her  wedding  gift. 


THE  END    OF  THE  PILGRIMAGE.      331 

Governor  Bradford  gave  half  of  his  share  of 
the  wreckage  of  a  Biscayan  ship  which  had 
gone  to  pieces  near  Plymouth,  and  had  been 
loaded  with  rugs  and  French  comforts,  all  of 
which  were  honorably  settled  for  with  their 
owners. 

John  Alden  brought  a  spinning-wheel.  Good 
Elder  Brewster  gave  a  shelf  of  books,  and 
Miles  Staudish  a  musket,  and  every  one  of  the 
children  of  the  Mayflower  brought  some  loving 
offering,  were  it  but  a  flower,  while  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  marriage  of  Priscilla  and  John  Alden 
would  have  applied  with  equal  truth  to  that  of 
Patience  Dudley  and  Wrestling  Brewster : 

"Simple  and  brief  was  the  wedding  as  that  of  Ruth  and  of 
Boaz. 

Softly  the  youth  and  the  maiden  repeated  the  words  of 
betrothal, 

Taking  each  other  for  husband  and  wife  in  the  Magistrate's 
presence, 

After  the  Puritan  way,  and  the  laudable  custom  of 
Holland. 

Fervently  then  and  devoutly,  the  excellent  Elder  of  Ply- 
mouth 

Prayed  for  the  hearth  and  the  home  that  were  founded  that 
day  in  affection, 

Speaking  of  life  and  of  death  and  imploring  divine  bene- 
dictions." 


APPENDIX. 


Note  a. 

Patience  Dudley  is  an  altogether  fictitious  character, 
but  Thomas  Dudley  was  one  of  nature's  noblemen,  and 
it  has  been  the  author's  aim  to  draw  the  character  of 
Patience  so  finely  that  she  might  be  worthy  of  such 
parentage.  Anne  Dudley,  his  real  daughter,  was  the  first 
American  poetess,  and  from  her  works  frequent  quota- 
tions have  been  made  in  this  volume.  She  married 
Simon  Bradstreet,  after  his  father-in-law  Governor  of 
Massachusetts. 

Note  b. 

Act  to  retain  the  Queen's  subjects  in  obedience,  1593: 

"  For  the  preventing  and  avoiding  of  such  perils  as 
might  grow  by  the  wicked  and  dangerous  practices  of 
seditious  Sectaries,  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Queen's  most 
excellent  Majesty,  and  by  the  Lords  Spiritual  and 
Temporal  in  this  present  Parliament  assembled  : 

"  That  if  any  person  above  the  age  of  sixteen  years 
shall  obstinately  refuse  to  repair  to  some  Church  to  hear 
divine  service  established  by  her  Majesty's  laws,  or  shall 
by  printing,  writing  or  speeches  go  about  to  deny  her 
Majesty's  power  and  authority  in  Causes  Ecclesiastical ; 
or  be  present  at  any  unlawful  conventicles  or  meetings 
under  pretence  of  Exercise  of  Religion.  .  . 

"  That  then  every  such  person  shall  be  committed  to 
prison  until  they  shall  conform.  .  . 

333 


334  APPENDIX. 

"  Offenders  not  conforming  within  three  months  shall 
abjure  the  realm,  and  refusing  to  do  so  or  returning  shall 
suffer  [that  is,  die]  as  in  the  case  of  Felony,  without 
benefit  of  Clergy." 

Note  c. 

Description  of  furniture  at  Kenil worth  in  the  time  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  from  Notes  to  Walter  Scott's  "  Kenil- 
worth  "  : 

A  salte,  ship  fashion,  of  the  mother  of  perle,  garnished 
with  silver  and  divers  workes,  warlike  ensignes,  and 
ornaments,  with  XVI  peeces  of  ordinance,  whereof  II 
on  wheles,  two  anckers  on  the  foreparte,  and  on  the 
stearne  the  image  of  Darne  Fortune  standing  on  a  globe 
with  a  flag  in  her  hand. 

A  George  on  horseback,  of  wood  painted  and  gilt, 
with  a  case  for  knives  in  the  tayle  of  the  horse,  and  a 
case  for  oyster  knives  in  the  brest  of  the  dragon. 

Twentie-three  cardes  or  maps  of  countries. 

A  chess  borde  of  ebonie  with  checkars  of  christall  and 
other  stones  sett,  layed  with  silver,  garnished  with  beares 
and  ragged  staves  and  cinque  foils  of  silver.  The 
XXXII  men  the  one  sorte  in  silver  white  the  other 
gilte. 

Tapestries — Flowers  busts  &  pillars  arched,  Forest 
worke  Hawking  and  Hunting,  Scriptural  Characters. 

Note  d. 

During  the  religious  persecutions  of  Queen  Bess  many 
of  the  old  Catholic  families  had  secret  chambers  con- 
structed in  their  mansions,  as  hiding  places  for  fugitive 
priests.  The  quaint  country-houses  were  often  of  such 
irregular  construction  that  much  space  was  lost  between 
floors  and  in  angles.  Especially  was  this  the  case  when 


APPENDIX.  335 

the  house  was  old  and  additions  and  alterations  had  been 
made  at  different  epochs.  Sometimes  the  entrance  to 
such  a  concealed  closet  would  be  through  a  trapdoor 
hidden  by  a  rug,  sometimes  by  a  sliding  panel  in  the 
wainscot.  In  the  long  gallery  of  Parham  Hall,  Sussex, 
is  a  window  seat  which,  lifted,  shows  a  staircase  descend- 
ing in  the  thickness  of  the  walls  to  the  cellars.  In  the 
libraiy  of  Abbot's  Salford  the  back  and  shelves  of  one 
of  the  book  cases,  on  the  removal  of  a  bolt,  would  swing 
backward,  giving  entrance  to  a  secret  passage.  These 
"  priests  holes,"  as  they  were  popularly  called,  were  con- 
tinued with  great  ingenuity,  and  were  many  of  them 
invented  and  built  by  one  man,  Nicholas  Owen,  the 
servant  of  the  Jesuit  Father  Garnet.  "  With  incom- 
parable skill,"  says  Father  Tanner,  writing  at  this 
period,  "he  knew  how  to  conduct  priests  to  a  place  of 
safety  along  subterranean  passages,  to  hide  them  between 
walls  and  bury  them  in  impenetrable  recesses,  and  to 
entangle  them  in  labyrinths  of  a  thousand  windings. 
He  alone  was  both  their  architect  and  their  builder, 
working  at  them  with  inexhaustible  industry  and  labor, 
for  generally  the  thickest  walls  had  to  be  broken  into, 
and  large  stones  excavated,  requiring  stronger  arms  than 
were  attached  to  a  body  so  diminutive  as  to  give  him 
the  nickname  of  Little  John." 

At  Hudlipp  Hall  in  Worcestershire,  where  Father 
Garnet  and  Owen  were  finally  arrested,  there  were  eleven 
of  these  hiding-places.  Father  Garnet  was  tortured  and 
barbarously  executed.  Father  Green  way  escaped. 

Note  e. 

The  author  acknowledges  an  anachronism  at  this 
point.  It  was  not  until  the  year  1646  that  Governor 
Bradford  writes : 


336  APPENDIX. 

"  About  ye  middle  of  May  this  year  caine  in  3  ships 
into  this  harbor  in  warr-like  order  ;  they  were  found  to 
be  men  of  war.  The  captain's  name  was  Crumwell,  who 
had  taken  sundrie  prizes  from  ye  Spaniards  in  ye  West 
Indies.  He  had  a  commission  from  ye  Earle  of  War- 
wick. He  had  abord  his  vessels  aboute  80  lustie  men 
(but  very  unruly)  who  after  they  came  ashore,  did  so 
distemper  themselves  with  drinke  as  they  became  like 
mad-men  :  yet  in  ye  ende  they  became  more  moderate 
and  orderly.  Thiss  Captain  Thomas  Cromwell  sett 
forth  another  vioage  to  the  Westindeas,  from  the  Bay 
of  Massachusetts  well  maned  &  victuled,  and  was  about 
3  yeares  and  tooke  sundry  prises  and  returned  rich  unto 
the  Massachusets  and  ther  dyed." — History  of  the 
Plymouth  Plantation. 


THE    END. 


A     000  051  523     9 


